A Meta-Analysis on the Prevalence and Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in the Context of COVID-19

Background: The objectives of this study are: 1) to compare the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among pandemic and pre-pandemic cohorts, 2) to evaluate the risk of GDM among pregnant women who tested positive and negative for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and 3) to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 among pregnant women diagnosed with and without GDM. Methods: A literature search was carried out in PubMed and Cochrane library databases with relevant keywords from its inception till March 2024. Observational studies that 1) evaluated the prevalence of GDM during pandemic and pre-pandemic period, and 2) investigated the GDM and COVID-19 status among pregnant women were included. Results: The analysis revealed that the prevalence of GDM was significantly increased by 17% (odds ratio (OR), 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12 to 1.23; P < 0.00001) during the pandemic period compared to pre-pandemic period and the odds of pregnant women with GDM tested positive for COVID-19 were 1.28-fold greater (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.44; P < 0.0001) than the odds of pregnant women with GDM tested negative for COVID-19. However, the analysis also revealed that pregnant women with COVID-19 were less likely (OR, 0.02; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.02; P < 0.00001) to be diagnosed with GDM when compared to pregnant women with COVID-19 and without GDM. Conclusion: The present study suggests that GDM acts as a risk factor for COVID-19 infection among pregnant women. This might be due to the hypothesis that altered sense of taste is associated among pregnant women with GDM and COVID-19 due to the taste receptor polymorphisms which regulates the innate immunity downstream signaling. However, molecular studies were needed to validate this hypothesis and evaluate the therapeutic role of taste receptors in the management of COVID-19 and GDM. J Endocrinol Metab. 2024;14(5):226-239 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem1020