ArticlePloS one2014
Serum activin A and follistatin levels in gestational diabetes and the association of the Activin A-Follistatin system with anthropometric parameters in offspring.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association and causality between diabetes and activin A: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Pooled it
- Machine Learning and Augmented Intelligence Enables Prognosis of Type 2 Diabetes Prior to Clinical Manifestation.Current diabetes reviews · 2025Review
- Article
- Biochemical and molecular biomarkers: unraveling their role in gestational diabetes mellitus.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2023Review
- The diagnostic indicators of gestational diabetes mellitus from second trimester to birth: a systematic review.Clinical diabetes and endocrinology · 2021Review
- Predictive and diagnostic biomarkers for gestational diabetes and its associated metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.Cardiovascular diabetology · 2019Review
- Early second trimester maternal serum markers in the prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2018Article
- Validity of anthropometric equations to estimate infant fat mass at birth and in early infancy.BMC pediatrics · 2017Article
- TSH increment and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in euthyroid subjects.Endocrine · 2017Article
- Early Pregnancy Biochemical Predictors of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.Current diabetes reports · 2017Review
- The effect of TSH change per year on the risk of incident chronic kidney disease in euthyroid subjects.Endocrine · 2017Article
- Differential Expression and Release of Activin A and Follistatin in Chronic Rhinosinusitis with and without Nasal Polyps.PloS one · 2015Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextThe Activin A-Follistatin system has emerged as an important regulator of lipid and glucose metabolism with possible repercussions on fetal growth.
objectiveTo analyze circulating activin A, follistatin and follistatin-like-3 (FSTL3) levels and their relationship with glucose metabolism in pregnant women and their influence on fetal growth and neonatal adiposity. DESIGN AND
methodsA prospective cohort was studied comprising 207 pregnant women, 129 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 78 with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring. Activin A, follistatin and FSTL3 levels were measured in maternal serum collected in the early third trimester of pregnancy. Serial fetal ultrasounds were performed during the third trimester to evaluate fetal growth. Neonatal anthropometry was measured to assess neonatal adiposity.
resultsSerum follistatin levels were significantly lower in GDM than in NGT pregnant women (8.21±2.32 ng/mL vs 9.22±3.41, P = 0.012) whereas serum FSTL3 and activin A levels were comparable between the two groups. Serum follistatin concentrations were negatively correlated with HOMA-IR and positively with ultrasound growth parameters such as fractional thigh volume estimation in the middle of the third trimester and percent fat mass at birth. Also, in the stepwise multiple linear regression analysis serum follistatin levels were negatively associated with HOMA-IR (β = -0.199, P = 0.008) and the diagnosis of gestational diabetes (β = -0.138, P = 0.049). Likewise, fractional thigh volume estimation in the middle of third trimester and percent fat mass at birth were positively determined by serum follistatin levels (β = 0.214, P = 0.005 and β = 0.231, P = 0.002, respectively).
conclusionsCirculating follistatin levels are reduced in GDM compared with NGT pregnant women and they are positively associated with fetal growth and neonatal adiposity. These data suggest a role of the Activin-Follistatin system in maternal and fetal metabolism during pregnancy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.