Serum chromium levels in gestational diabetes mellitus.
OBJECTIVE
To measure serum chromium level in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) from Chennai, South India.


METHODS
Thirty women with gestational diabetes, 60 age matched controls.


METHODS
Gestational age 22-28 weeks, age group 20-35 years.


METHODS
Gestational age beyond 28 weeks, malnutrition or presence of infection. Serum chromium was measured using inductive couple plasma emission spectrometer.


RESULTS
Serum chromium levels of women with GDM, 1.59+/-0.02 ng/ml (range: 0.16-4.0 ng/ml) were lower than in controls (4.58+/-0.62 ng/ml; range 0.82-5.33 ng/ml) (P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences among cases and controls when subdivided by parity.


CONCLUSIONS
Women with GDM from a South Indian city had lower levels of serum chromium compared to pregnant women without GDM. Studies may be done whether chromium supplementation is useful in this group of women.
Department of Endocrinology, Apollo Hospitals, Gream's lane, Off Gream's Road, Chennai, India.
P G
PG
Sundararaman
G R
GR
Sridhar
V
V
Sujatha
V
V
Anita