Paired values of serum fructosamine and blood glucose for the screening of gestational diabetes mellitus: A retrospective study of 165 Saudi pregnant women.

This study reports the utilization of serum fructosamine and blood glucose for the screening of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Blood samples from 165 pregnant women were analyzed for fasting blood glucose (FBG), random blood glucose (RBG) and serum fructosamine. The actual fructosamine levels were corrected for serum protein (c-Fruct) for more precise presentation. Two cut-off values of FBG (>5.3 mmol/L and >7.0 mmol/L) and RBG (>7.8 mmol/L and >11.0 mmol/L) were used to classify hyperglycemic subjects for subsequent evaluation. The average values±standard deviations for FBG, RBG and cFruct were 5.865±1.95, 7.767±3.21 and 2.387±0.47 mmol/L, respectively. FBG levels were significantly correlated with RBG (Pearson correlation=0.597, P<0.001). Significant correlations were also observed between cFruct and FBG (Pearson correlation=0.673, P<0.001) or RBG (Pearson correlation=0.641, P<0.001). Out of 165 subjects, 24 (14.5%) cases were classified as hyperglycemic on the basis of FBG>7.0 mmol/L or RBG>11.0 mmol/L; use of lower cut-off values resulted higher frequencies of hyperglycemia. Whereas, a combined criteria of FBG>5.3 mmol/L and cFruct >2.5 mmol/L predicted 35 patients as the most probable hyperglycemic as compared to 32 patients identified using the criteria of RBG >7.8 mmol/L and cFruct >2.5 mmol/L. These criteria were associated with 4.8% and 3.6% false-positivity at the expense of 3.6% and 3.0% false-negative outcomes, respectively. The levels of FBG, RBG and cFruct were significantly higher in hyperglycemic groups (irrespective of grouping criteria) as compared to the respective normal groups. In conclusion, these findings clearly indicate that the paired values of cFruct with FBG or RBG could help in filtering high-risk individuals for OGTT and therefore avoiding a unnecessary OGTT.