Appraisal of A1c% level in healthy Sudanese pregnant women in reference to body mass index

摘要

Background: Pregnancy is a major endocrine event in the female lifespan, involving wide-ranged and often dramatic changes in the metabolism of various hormones. Cross sectional, case control, analytical quantitative study was conducted in Sudan, Khartoum state in Yastabsheron obstetric hospital during the period from March to August 2011. Analytical and statistical methods were applied to measure the concentration of A1c% in healthy pregnant women as well as in healthy non-pregnant women to assess the difference in the results. Methods: Blood samples were taken from a total of 90 healthy pregnant women (case group) and 30 healthy non-pregnant women (control group), then samples were analyzed for A1c% by using affinity chromatography technique, and results were recorded in addition to their age, body mass index and the number of pregnancies. Results: showed that, the mean concentration of the A1c% in cases group was (4.407±1.054%) in first trimester, (4.797±0.631) % in second trimester and (4.833±0.626) % in third trimester, and (5.670±0.471%) in control group with a P value of 0.00, indicating the highly significant difference between the two groups. Others finding showed that the mean concentration of A1c% of the first trimester is lower than that of the second and third trimesters, also there was no significant difference between the mean concentration of the second and third trimester. A significant weak positive correlation between A1c% concentration with body mass index and the age of pregnant women. Conclusions: Healthy normal pregnant women have lower A1c% concentrations than non-pregnant women which can be impute to the reduce in plasma glucose values and to the shortened erythrocyte life span that can occur during pregnancy. The body mass index and age affect the concentration of A1c% c, but it is not affected by gravida.