Abstract: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) refers to different degrees of glucose metabolism abnormalities that occur or be first discovered during pregnancy. It is closely related to many adverse pregnancy outcomes. Placenta-specific exosomes are one kind of extracellular vesicles which are only produced by the placenta. These exosomes participate in many physiological and pathological processes of the body through the contained RNA, lipids, proteins, and DNA. In gestational diabetes, the placental exosomes play an important role in the occurrence and development of gestational diabetes through regulating insulin resistance, inflammatory factors, and endothelial cell dysfunction. In this review, we will discuss the generation, changes, and mechanism of placenta-specific exosomes in GDM, as well as their prospects as a predictive and therapeutic target for gestational diabetes.
Keywords: pregnancy, gestational diabetes, exosome, placenta