Effect of Metformin on Diabetes Mellitus Preventionin Pregnant Women with Risk Factors

Objective: this study evaluated the efficacy and safety of metformin on prevention of gestationaldiabetes mellitus in women with high risk of gdm.materials and methods: total number of 189 pregnant women aged between 25 to 35, and 10 to 14weeks pregnancy,admitted to mirza koochakkhan hospital, tehran in january 2008 . january 2009entered to this randomized controlled clinical trial. the women had one of the three risk factors; historyof gdm, family history of diabetes, or bmi . 30 kg/m2, with normal results in the glucose challenge test(gct) or the glucose tolerance test (gtt). subjects were randomly split to two groups; 63 women (group a)who received metformin (500 mg, twice a day) and 126 women (group b) did not use metformin.incidence of gestational diabetes was compared between two groups.results: the incidence of gestational diabetes was significantly different between two groups (%1.4 ingroup a, %15.4 in group b) (p<0.001). the study also showed that the insulin requirement wassignificantly different between two groups after developing gdm (group a %3.6, group b %9.5, p=0.001).conclusion: using metformin can effectively reduce the incidence of gdm in pregnant women at risk.