Low Maternal Serum Cobalamin Levels Association With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Objective: To compare the mean serum cobalamin levels in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) versus pregnant women without gestational diabetes mellitus.

Methodology: It was a prospective case control study carried out in department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore from 1-12-2022 to 30-11-2023. Total 150 women in the age range of 20 to 35 years and at gestation of 26-36 weeks were enrolled after informed consent. Women already diagnosed with diabetes or metabolic disorder or using vit B12 supplements were excluded. The 75 patients in case group had fasting blood glucose level more than 95 mg/dl while other 75 in control group had less than 95mg/dl. Their blood samples were tested for serum cobalamin levels. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0, independent t-test was used taking P ≤ 0.05 as significant.

Results: The mean age of control group was 29.43±1.49 years and 31.95±1.27 years in cases. Gestational age was 34.67±2.69 weeks in controls and 32.75±2.53 weeks in cases which is statically similar. Low serum cobalamin level was found in women with gestational diabetes mellitus as compared to pregnant women without gestational diabetes (164.88±19.96 vs 236.56± 24.15 respectively) with p-value <0.001.

Conclusion: Mean serum cobalamin level was significantly lower in women with gestational diabetes making it one of the risk factor for development of gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnancy.