Minor (glycosylated) hemoglobins in cord blood of infants of normal and diabetic mothers.

The levels of minor (glycosylated) hemoglobins in maternal blood during labor and in cord blood at delivery were determined in four groups of women: 20 normal, 22 probably normal, 20 Class A diabetic, and eight overt diabetic women. Maternal HbA, was not significantly increased in the diabetic patients, thereby reflecting adequate metabolic control. In the cord blood, the percentage of the minor hemoglobin HbF1c, which has been shown to be a mixture of acetylated glycosylated HbF, and the ratios HbF1c/HbF and HbA1/hbA were significantly increased in fetuses delivered of diabetic mothers. This supports the view that these fetuses are hyperglycemic in utero. However, there was no correlation between cord blood glycosylated hemoglobins and the birth weight ratio, a sensitive indicator of relative changes in the birth weight.