Differences in the birthweight of infants born to patients with early- or mid-to-late-detected gestational diabetes mellitus who underwent guideline-based glycemic control

Abstract

Aims: To examine the effects of strict glycemic control on the birthweight of infants born to Japanese patients with early- or mid-to-late-detected gestational diabetes mellitus (ed- or md-GDM).

Methods: We retrospectively examined the characteristics of 101 patients with GDM who underwent guideline-based glycemic control. A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was conducted to diagnose GDM at gestational weeks 11-15 (ed-GDM subgroup) and 24-28 (md-GDM subgroup).

Results: Infant birthweight was significantly lower in the ed-GDM subgroup (n = 25) than in the md-GDM subgroup (n = 76) (2688.3 ± 470.4 g vs. 3052.4 ± 383.1 g, p < 0.05), and the proportion of low-birthweight infants (<2500 g) was significantly higher in the ed-GDM subgroup than in the md-GDM subgroup (32.0% vs. 5.3%, p < 0.005). Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels during early treatment and before delivery were significantly lower in the ed-GDM subgroup than in the md-GDM subgroup (76.1 ± 10.4 mg/dL vs. 85.5 ± 9.6 mg/dL, p < 0.001; 80.5 ± 10.4 mg/dL vs. 90.4 ± 10.3 mg/dL, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Patients with ed-GDM showed significantly lower FPG levels during treatment compared to those with md-GDM, presumably indicating an association with the delivery of low-birthweight infants.

Keywords: 75-g oral glucose tolerance test; Early pregnancy; Fasting plasma glucose; Gestational diabetes mellitus; Infant birthweight.