Serum chemerin levels during normal human pregnancy

► A cross-sectional study was carried out with 60 pregnant women and a control group. ► Serum concentrations of biochemistries, chemerin, and adiponectin were measured. ► Chemerin levels did not vary in the early follicular and midluteal phases. ► Chemerin rose significantly and is negatively associated with adiponectin levels. ► Further study needed to investigate the use of chemerin as a clinical biomarker. During gestation there are important changes in maternal metabolism and an increase in insulin resistance, coinciding with an increase in adiposity. Chemerin is an adipocytokine which is expressed and secreted in various tissues, including placenta, and may play an important role in metabolic regulation during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to determine serum levels of chemerin during gestation and compare them to other indicators of insulin resistance. A cross-sectional study was carried out analyzing serum chemerin levels of 20 pregnant women during three gestational periods, early, middle, and late (between the 10th and 14th, the 23rd and 26th, and the 34th and 37th week) and 20 non-pregnant women were used as a control group. An analysis of chemerin levels during the menstrual cycle was performed in an eumenorrheic group (n=16) in the early follicular (cycle day 4±1) and the midluteal phase (cycle day 22±1), demonstrating that serum chemerin levels did not fluctuate significantly. Serum levels of chemerin were significantly elevated during late gestation when compared to early (P