Diurnal blood glucose profiles in women with gestational diabetes with or without hypertension.

AIM: The aim of the study was to establish whether diurnal blood glucose profiles differed in women with gestational diabetes (GDM) with different forms of hypertensive complications.
METHODS: The subjects were patients diagnosed at 26-32 gestational weeks as having GDM (n = 178). They were classified as being normotensive, having chronic hypertension (with or without superimposed pre-eclampsia on chronic hypertension) or pregnancy-induced hypertension (with or without proteinuria). We compared diurnal blood glucose profiles (blood glucose taken every 4 h over 24 h) in these three groups.
RESULTS: Hypertension complicated 43% of the women with GDM. The glucose profiles were similar between the three groups, except that in early morning hours (from 04:00 to 08:00 h) blood glucose concentrations increased in mothers with chronic hypertension, whereas they decreased in the normotensive women. In univariate regression analysis, both obesity (BMI > or = 28 kg/m(2)) and chronic hypertension showed significant association with blood glucose rise from 04:00 to 08:00 h, but in a multiple regression model neither showed significant independent effect.
CONCLUSIONS: The rise in blood glucose levels during the early morning hours in women with GDM and chronic hypertension could reflect greater insulin resistance and sympathetic overactivity.