Maternal serum level of placental growth factor in diabetic pregnancies

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine if maternal serum placental growth factor (PlGF) concentration at 11-14 weeks in pregnancies complicated by diabetes, including those with preexisting diabetes and those that developed gestational diabetes subsequently, differed from that in normal, uncomplicated pregnancies. STUDY DESIGN: PlGF concentration was measured in stored maternal serum samples obtained at 11-14 weeks of gestation from 82 women with diabetic pregnancies, including 32 with pre-existing diabetes and 50 with gestational diabetes, and 400 normal controls. Gestational diabetes mellitus was diagnosed with the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test and by applying World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS: When expressed as the multiple of the median and adjusted for gestation, the log transformed values of PlGF were significantly higher (P<.05) in the diabetic group (mean multiple of the median, [MoM] 1.14; SD 0.11) as compared to the controls (mean MoM, 1.00; SD, 0.11). On further comparison between the diabetic groups with the controls, significant differences were found in the groups with gestational diabetes (mean MoM, 1.15; SD, 0.12) and non-insulin dependent diabetes (mean MoM, 1.16; SD, 0.09) but not in those complicated by insulin-dependent diabetes (mean MoM, 1.09; SD, 0.10). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that in the first trimester of pregnancy the level of maternal PlGF was already significantly increased not only in pregnancies complicated by non-insulin dependent diabetes but also in those with gestational diabetes. The implications of these findings remain to be explored.