Serum Ferritin and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Case Controlled Study

Background: gestational diabetes mellitus (gdm) has been observed to be associated with increased perinatal morbidity and mortality. increased serum ferritin, among others, has been identified as a risk factor for gdm. objectives: the present case-control study was conducted to determine the association between plasma ferritin level and risk of gdm. methods: the study was carried out in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, department of biochemistry and clinical pathology, bangabandhu sheikh mujib medical university hospital from january 2008 to december 2009. pregnant women 24-28 weeks onwards if exhibited a plasma glucose level fasting e6.1 mmol/l or blood sugar 2 hour after 75gm glucose >7.8 mmol/l were included as cases. result: the mean serum ferritin was significantly higher in study group than in control group (36.4 ±2.5 v,v. 17.3 ± 1.0, p<0.001). a significantly linear correlation was observed between serum ferritin and 2 hours postprandial glucose. more than 90% of the women having gdm exhibited elevated serum ferritin (> 12 ng/ml) compared to 70% without gdm. the likelihood of having gdm is 5 times higher among those patients having high serum ferritin (>12 ng/ml) than that in low or normal serum ferritin. conclusion: the study concludes that elevated serum ferritin is associated with increased risk of gdm and serves as an early predictor of diabetes in pregnancy. high maternal ferritin (>12ng/ml) at third trimester might be a risk factor for gdm and the caring obstetricians should, therefore, be cautious enough in prescribing iron to the pregnant women.