Glucose tolerance in pre-eclampsia - abstract

ABSTRACT

In normal pregnancies (NP), carbohydrate metabolism as assessed by oral glucose tolerance is impaired. This study was aimed at assessing whether a complication of pregnancy, pre-eclampsia (PE), exacerbates this impairment of carbohydrate metabolism. Results showed that the fasting plasma glucose levels were not significantly different between the PE (4.62ñ0.27 mM/1) and the NP (4.12ñ0.08 mM/1). However, the fasting plasma insulin levels were significantly higher in the PE (28.4ñ5.9 uU/m1) than in the NP (9.6ñ2.3 uU/m1) (p<0.01). Analysis of the area under the curve showed that the glucose response curves were not significantly different. The insulin response curves displayed a trend of higher circulating insulin levels in the PE compared to the NP; (p<0.07). The insulin to glucose ratio, an index of insulin sensitivity, in the PE (6.21ñ1.37) was significantly higher than that of the NP (2.26ñ0.54) p<0.05). We suggest that the hypertensive complication of pregnancy, PE, is accompanied by hyperinsulinaemia in the basal or fasting state, with an accompanying insulin insensitivity (AU)