Development of gestational diabetes mellitus in women with periodontitis in early pregnancy: A population‐based clinical study

Abstract Aim This study aimed to determine whether periodontitis in early pregnancy and periodontal therapy during gestation affect the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) through a population‐based clinical study. Materials and methods Subjects without periodontitis at 1–4 weeks of gestation who met our inclusion criteria were enrolled in the non‐periodontitis group. Periodontitis patients who agreed or refused to receive periodontal therapy during pregnancy were separately enrolled in the periodontitis treated or untreated group. At 12–16 weeks of gestation, gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and venous blood were collected for analyses of bacterial species and serum inflammatory mediators, respectively. At 24–28 weeks of gestation, GDM patients were identified by oral glucose tolerance tests. The association tests were performed using Chi‐squared statistics and regression analyses. Results The complete data of 3523 pregnant women were recorded during the study period. GDM incidence among the untreated periodontitis participants (84/749, 11.21%) was significantly higher than that among the non‐periodontitis participants (108/2255, 4.79%) ( p < .05), and periodontal treatment during gestation reduced the incidence from 11.21% (untreated group) to 7.32% (38/519, treated group) ( p < .05). Based on multiple logistic regression analyses, it was found that periodontitis in early pregnancy was associated with GDM, and three‐step regression analyses showed that Porphyromonas gingivalis ( P. gingivalis ) and the serum TNF‐α and IL‐8 levels played a role in the association between untreated periodontitis and GDM. Furthermore, Pearson's correlation test indicated that the existence of P. gingivalis in GCF was positively correlated with high serum levels of these two inflammatory mediators. Conclusions This study establishes a connection between periodontitis in early pregnancy and GDM and demonstrates that the presence of P. gingivalis is associated with high levels of inflammatory mediators in serum, and thereby may contribute to the development of GDM. In‐depth mechanistic studies are needed to further support these findings.