The prevalence of metabolic syndrome up to 5 years post-partum in patients with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with cardiovascular mortality and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. We examine the prevalence of MetS in a cohort of Caucasian women with previous gestational diabetes (GDM) (n = 116), and those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) during pregnancy (n = 51). Fasting glucose alone (known DM/pre-diabetes post-partum patients) or 75 g OGTT (other patients), lipid profile, insulin and c-peptide were performed. We calculated insulin resistance using the HOMA2-IR computer model. (Table Presented) Results: Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance are significantly more prevalent in Caucasian patients with GDM progressing to postpartum DM/pre-diabetes than those who do not (p<0.01), suggesting a need to target lifestyle changes in the early post-partum period to help prevent progression to T2DM.