MATERNAL SERUM INHIBIN-A IN PREGNANCIES COMPLICATED BY INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

We have examined whether insulin dependant diabetes mellitus (IDDM) af fects maternal serum levels of inhibin-A, a recently described prenata l marker of Down's syndrome, by comparing levels in 169 women with IDD M with levels in 432 nondiabetic pregnant women between 15 and 20 week s of gestation. There was a small but significant increase in the inhi bin-A level in the diabetic women only when levels were corrected for maternal weight: median MoM 1.17 (P < 0.01 vs controls, Student's t te st). The underlying mechanism for this elevation in pregnancies compli cated by IDDM currently remains obscure.