Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Lipid profile characterization in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its impact on post-partum dysglycemia remains to elucidate. The aim of this study was to evaluate lipid profile in women with GDM during pregnancy and 8 weeks after and to study its correlation with glycemic control.

Methods: This study was carried out in a central hospital in Portugal. All women with GDM diagnosed from January/2014 to December/2015 were enrolled. A lipid profile was recorded during pregnancy and at post-partum reclassification and was later accessed. GDM diagnosis was made through fasting glucose or through OGTT glucose accordingly to international guidelines (IADPSG consensus panel, 2010).

Results: We included 448 women, mean age 33.49±5.0 years, mean pre-pregnancy weight 68.61±14.7 kg, mean BMI 26.35±5.6 kg/m² and mean pregnancy weight gain 8.73±5.5 kg. Post-partum, there was a statistically significant decrease of total (254.12±50.7 vs 189.16±36.4), LDL (LDL-c) (157.39±44.6 vs 115.97±33.3) and HDL (HDL-c) (67.52±5.2 vs 55.12±12.9) cholesterol and triglycerides (195.79±62.1 vs 83.73±46.9). In respect to lipid profile at pregnancy, we found a statistically significant correlation between c-HDL and OGTT glucose at 60′ (r=−0.175) and 120′ (r=−0.343) and between triglycerides and OGTT glucose at 120′ (r=0.164). In respect to post-partum, we found a statistically significant correlation between total and LDL-c and pre-pregnancy weight (r=0.143. r=0.154, respectively). LDL-c was also found to have a statistically significant correlation with OGTT glucose at 120′ (r=0.178), while HDL-c was found to have a statistically significant correlation with fasting glucose at the diagnosis (r=−0.184). Triglycerides presented a statistically significant correlation with fasting glucose at diagnosis (r=0.460) and with glucose at 120′ in the reclassification test (r=0.169).

Conclusion: There is a close relation between lipid and glycemic profile in women with GDM. Elevated glucose levels at the diagnosis of GDM seem to correlate with lower HDL-c and higher triglycerides in the post-partum period. Elevated 3^rd trimester triglycerides correlate with a higher glucose levels at reclassification test, thus maternal hypertriglyceridemia during pregnancy can negatively influence glycemic control in the post-partum period.