Complications in Infants of Diabetic Mothers Related to Glycated Albumin and Hemoglobin Levels During Pregnancy

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate whether glycated albumin is a useful glycemic marker from the point of view of infant complications for monitoring glycemic control in pregnant women with diabetes or gestational diabetes mellitus. We retrospectively studied 42 Japanese infants of diabetic mothers and their mothers at our facility between May 2010 and July 2013. The mean glycated albumin and glycated hemoglobin levels were compared between mothers of infants with complications and those without complications. We used 15.8% as the cutoff value of glycated albumin and calculated the sensitivity and specificity of items that were significantly different between the two groups. Glycated albumin was significantly higher in mothers of infants with hypoglycemia (15.5±1.8 vs. 13.8±1.2%, p=0.001), respiratory disorders (15.6±1.8 vs. 13.9±1.2%, p<0.001), hypocalcemia (15.7±2.1 vs. 14±1.2%, p=0.004), myocardial hypertrophy (15.2±1.9 vs. 13.7±1%, p=0.007), and large-for-date status (15.8±1.9 vs. 14±1.3%, p=0.002). By contrast, considering hypoglycemia, glycated hemoglobin was not significantly different between the two groups. The sensitivity and specificity with 15.8% as the cutoff value of glycated albumin were as follows: hypoglycemia (70% and 81.2%), respiratory disorders (61.5% and 82.8%), hypocalcemia (62.5% and 84.4%), myocardial hypertrophy (87.5% and 79.4%), and large-for-date status (75% and 85.3%). Glycated albumin is a useful marker of glycemic control considering infant complications during pregnancy. This study also suggests that evaluating both glycated hemoglobin and glycated albumin levels can lead to better glycemic control in pregnant women.