Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To find early diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS) in obese women in early pregnancy.

Materials and methods: We examined 143 pregnant women aged from 19 to 43 years (31.0 (26.0; 35.0)) and divided them into three groups: MS group (n=55), risk group (one to two components of MS) (n=57), and control group (n=31). Laboratory examination included blood pressure (BP) monitoring, assessment of a lipid profile, glucose metabolism, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

Results: 76% of pregnant women with MS and 45% of pregnant women with one to two components of MS have obesity. Hypertension was diagnosed in 54 (64%) pregnant women. We found significant differences in systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure between pregnant women with obesity and pregnant women without obesity (P<0.001). There were significant differences in level of fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR, triglycerides, LDL-C, and VLDL-C in pregnant women with obesity comparing with pregnant women without obesity (P<0.001). Gestational diabetes (GD) was identified in the MS group up to 20 weeks in 18.2% of pregnant women, after 20 weeks in 29.1% of pregnant women. There were 10.5% of women with GD up to 20 weeks and 17.5% after 20 weeks in the risk group respectively. We found no disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism in 45.5% pregnant women from MS group and 71.9% from risk group.

Conclusion: Insulin resistance and its associated disorders of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism are common in obese women during pregnancy. Early identification of risk factors in obese pregnant women is a prerequisite for the prevention of serious complications in the future as part of the mother and the foetus.