Direct relationship of antepartum glucose control and fetal erythropoietin in human Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic pregnancy

Abstract

In the present study the antepartum relationship between maternal diabetic glucose control and fetal hypoxaemia was examined in 44 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic and 23 non-diabetic control pregnancies. Maternal HbA1C was used to assess maternal integrated blood glucose control while fetal metabolic control was evaluated by antepartum glucose, insulin, and C-peptide determinations in amniotic fluid at elective caesarean delivery. Fetal hypoxaemia was assessed indirectly by fetal umbilical vein plasma erythropoietin level at delivery. A prospectively developed statistical pathway model was used to examine the relationship of these variables. In applying forced stepwise multiple regression with this model, we observed in the diabetic subjects that mean maternal HbA1C during the last month of pregnancy correlated significantly with fetal umbilical venous erythropoietin at delivery (r = 0.57, p less than 0.001). Additional significant contributions to umbilical venous erythropoietin were found for amniotic fluid glucose and amniotic fluid insulin when these two independent variables were added in stepwise fashion (p less than 0.01). We conclude that in diabetic pregnancy, antepartum control of maternal hyperglycaemia is a significant factor associated with fetal hypoxaemia. We speculate that this effect is mediated through perturbations which accelerate fetal metabolism and which is expressed by amniotic fluid levels of glucose and insulin.