HbA1C levels in Japanese women during early pregnancy

Abstract

The maternal glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) level in early pregnancy has been observed to be lower than the prepregnant value. In Japan, the average body mass index (BMI) shows a very slight change during early pregnancy, which has been thought to be associated with the incidence of hyperemesis gravidarum. We examined the relation between HbA1C and changes in BMI levels of 274 pregnant Japanese women managed at our hospital during early pregnancy. The average HbA1C in early pregnancy was 5.1 +/- 0.4%, which did not differ markedly from that of nonpregnancy (5.0 +/- 0.5%). The HbA1C level showed a negative correlation with the increasing value of BMI during early pregnancy (r2 = 0.26, p < 0.05). In this study, we could not identify a significant decrease in HbA1C in Japanese women during early pregnancy. This finding may be associated with the incidence of hyperemesis gravidarum in Japanese women.