Carbohydrate metabolism in pregnancy. Part I. Diurnal plasma glucose profile in normal and diabetic women.

Diurnal plasma glucose profiles and oral glucose tolerance during pregnancy were studied in normal women, chemical diabetics, and insulin-requiring diabetics. In normal women the mean diurnal plasma glucose rose by only 0.22 mmol/1 (4 mg/100 m1) during pregnancy. Mild chemical diabetes resulted in an increase in both the mean diurnal glucose concentration and the fluctuation of plasma glucose levels during the day. Fluctuation in glucose concentration in insulin-dependent diabetics was about three times that found in non-diabetic women of similar gestation, with relative hyperglycaemia during the day and hypoglycaemia at night. In non-diabetic women and those with chemical diabetes the mean dirunal glucose correlated closely with the total area under the three-hour oral glucose tolerance curve and significantly, but less closely, with the two-hour glucose tolerance test value.