SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Translational and Clinical Endocrinology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1638655
This article is part of the Research TopicTransgenerational Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Unraveling Hormonal and Health Impacts Across GenerationsView all 3 articles
Impact of Phthalate Exposure on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review
Provisionally accepted
- SRM Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University) SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Kanchipuram, India
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a transient diabetogenic state that often leads to adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The rising burden of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals like phthalates essentially disrupts the tightly regulated endocrine system, thereby modulating the insulin signaling pathways, leading to GDM. Objective: In the present work, a systematic review was performed to examine the probable relation between maternal exposure to phthalates, as endocrine-disrupting compounds, and GDM. Methods: Relevant studies from their inception to April 2025 were identified by searching PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Science Direct. The data were screened using the Rayyan tool, and the risk of bias was assessed using the New Castle Ottawa Scale selection tool. Results: We identified 13 studies that showed a significant presence of phthalates in the urine samples of GDM patients. 5 phthalate secondary metabolites, Monoethyl Phthalate, Monobutyl phthalate, Mono-Isobutyl Phthalate, and Monobenzyl Phthalate and the primary phthalate Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate were found to be most commonly present in the urine samples of the GDM patients. Conclusion: Urinary phthalate levels can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for GDM, thereby also reducing the risk of associated adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Keywords: gestational diabetes mellitus, phthalates, Urine, pregnancy outcomes, Systematic review
Received: 31 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mitra, Anil Kumar, T, S.M., Kumari R. and Janardhanan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rajiv Janardhanan, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University) SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Kanchipuram, India
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.