COMPARISON OF OBESE AND NONOBESE PATIENTS WITH GESTATIONAL DIABETES

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of obesity on the outco me of gestational diabetes (GD). The age of the subject (31 +/- 5 year s) and duration of pregnancy (29 +/- 5 weeks) were similar at the time of diagnosis for the 19 obese (34 +/- 6 kg/m2) and 19 non-obese (23.0 +/- 2.1 kg/m2) subjects. Before treatment, the area under the curve o f the glucose tolerance test and the mean capillary blood glucose leve ls were similar in both groups; however, the baseline blood glucose le vels of the obese patients (6.0 +/- 0.8 mmol/l) were higher than those of the non-obese patients (5.3 +/- 0.8 mmol/l; P < 0.01). During preg nancy, the total weight gain of the obese patients was less (10.6 +/- 5.0 vs. 15.2 +/- 4.7 kg, P < 0.006). Fifteen of the obese patients req uired treatment with insulin, while only six of the non-obese women re quired insulin (P < 0.005). During insulin therapy, the mean capillary blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and fructosamine levels were similar in both groups. In conclusion, our data suggest that GD in obe se patients is characterized by lower weight gain and higher baseline glucose with the result that insulin therapy is more frequently instit uted.