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CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM IN PRE‐ECLAMPSIA
Author(s) -
Singh M. M.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1976.tb00793.x
Subject(s) - eclampsia , medicine , endocrinology , preeclampsia , diabetes mellitus , pregnancy , gestational diabetes , carbohydrate metabolism , insulin , gestation , biology , genetics
Summary Intravenous glucose tolerance tests were performed on 30 primigravidae with pre‐eclampsia and 15 normal primigravidae in late pregnancy. The groups were matched for age, height and weight and had no stigmata of potential diabetes. Plasma glucose, plasma immunoreactive insulin and plasma placental lactogen (HPL) levels were measured before (fasting) and at timed intervals after the glucose challenge; the glucose response was expressed as the increment index. The patients with severe pre‐eclampsia had significantly lower fasting plasma glucose levels than those with mild pre‐eclampsia and normal pregnancies. The mean increment index, in both the severe and mild pre‐eclamptic groups was significantly lower than that of the normal pregnant group. Fasting HPL levels were significantly lower in patients with severe pre‐eclampsia than in those who had mild preeclampsia or a normal pregnancy. Both the fasting plasma insulin and insulin response following glucose injection were lower in patients with severe preeclampsia than in those with mild pre‐eclampsia or a normal pregnancy. The differences however were not statistically significant. The results of this study suggest that carbohydrate metabolism in severe pre‐eclampsia is altered to an extent similar to that in patients with chemical gestational diabetes, and this alteration may be due to maternal p‐cell anoxia caused by the vascular changes in pre‐eclampsia.