Biomarker ID'd for pregnancy-induced glucose intolerance

(HealthDay)—One measurement of plasma glycated CD59 (pGCD59) in pregnancy can predict glucose intolerance, according to a study published online May 3 in Diabetes Care.

Pamela Ghosh, Ph.D., from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a case-control study of 1,000 plasma samples from women receiving standard prenatal care. Five hundred women had a normal glucose challenge test (GCT) for screening of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and 500 had a failed GCT and had a subsequent oral glucose tolerance test (control subjects and case patients, respectively).

The researchers found that the median pGCD59 value was 8.5-fold higher in case patients and 10-fold higher in GDM patients compared with controls: 0.33, 2.79, and 3.23, respectively (P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.92. The prevalence of large for gestational age (LGA) was 4.3 and 13.5 percent in the lowest and highest quartiles of pGCD59, respectively.

"One pGCD59 measurement during weeks 24 to 28 identifies pregnancy-induced glucose intolerance with high sensitivity and specificity and can potentially identify the risk for LGA," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed a financial interest in Mellitus, which is developing diagnostic tools for diabetes.