Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part A (2024)

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common medical complications of pregnancy. The disease has important health implications for mother and child. High serum ferritin levels have been linked with type 2 diabetes and the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in pregnant women. The present study was designed to evaluate the association of serum ferritin with GDM.
Methods: Case control study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH), Dhaka. Pregnant women at 2nd and 3rd trimester attended for antenatal care diagnosed as GDM was selected as cases. Non-diabetic pregnant women matching with cases by age and gestational age was selected as control in this study. GDM was diagnosed by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The serum ferritin level of these patients was measured.
Results: The age groups (20-30 years) of cases (80.0%) and control (76.7%) were almost similar. In cases educational qualification was maximum (40.0%) up to SSC. Both in cases (60.0%) and in controls (93.3%) monthly income was 10000-25000 to which is statistically significant (P=<0.001). More than two third of the control (86.7%) group and 43.3% cases were present at the period of 25-32 weeks of gestation. 20.0% of cases and 23.3% of controls had history of preterm labour. Level of fasting blood sugar value increases with increasing serum ferritin level which is highly significant (r= 0.464, P=<0.001). A highly significant linear correlation was evident between serum ferritin level and blood glucose 2 hours after 75 gm glucose ingestion (r= 0.466, P=<0.001). The mean serum ferritin level was lower in control (22.9±3.2) group compared to that in case group (48.8±17.7) and the difference between the groups was statistically highly significant (P=<0.001). The mean serum ferritin level was lower in control (22.9±3.2) group compared to that in case group (48.8±17.7) and the difference between the groups was statistically highly significant (P=<0.001).High level of serum ferritin was more in case (70.0%) compared with that of the control (0.0%) group). All respondents of control group had low level of serum ferritin. This findings are statistically highly significant (p=0.000). Respondents with high ferritin level have 4.33 times more chance to develop GDM (OR=4.33; 95% CI = 2.44-7.68).
Conclusion: The study concludes that high level of serum ferritin serves as a risk factor for development of gestational diabetes mellitus. There is a positive correlation between serum ferritin level and GDM. This study, despite some limitations, raise strong concerns about the screening of ferritin level may predict gestational diabetes mellitus.