A Comparative Study of Micronutrient Levels in Pregnant Women With and Without Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a multifactorial disease that genetic and environmental factors affect insulin sensitivity. This study was designed with consideration towards the importance of micronutrients in carbohydrate metabolism. The present case-control study was performed on 100 pregnant women referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. Fifty pregnant women with gestational diabetes as defined by the American Diabetes Association guideline were considered as the case group and 50 non-diabetic pregnant women formed the control group. Maternal demographic information was recorded in the checklist . Serum levels of zinc, copper, selenium and chromium were measured in both groups. After data collection, they were processed with spss16 software.The mean age of diabetic and non-diabetic pregnant mothers was 32.33 ± 5.92 and 26.32 ± 5.38 years respectively, and their mean weight was 82.87 ± 10.81 kg in the case and 73.18 ± 10.6 kg in the control group. Maternal weight and age in the gestational diabetes group were significantly higher. (both p < 0.05). There was a significant difference between the case and control groups in terms of family history of diabetes in first-degree relatives; history of formula fed mothers during infancy, gravid > 3 ,and low gestational age were all more common in women with gestational diabetes (p < 0.05). In contrast to chromium, serum levels of zinc, copper and selenium were higher in the group with gestational diabetes. No significant relation was observed between serum zinc, copper, chromium and selenium levels with gestational diabetes.