Research
Obstetrics
The clinical management of hyperglycemia in pregnancy complicated by maturity-onset diabetes of the young

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2015.04.037Get rights and content

Objective

Women with maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) are often first identified and diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy. Genetics and hyperglycemia play an important role in determining fetal size in MODY pregnancies. The principal objective of the current study is to determine the outcomes and clinical management of hyperglycemia in pregnancies complicated by glucokinase gene (GCK) and hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1α MODY mutations.

Study Design

A retrospective chart review of 37 women with a GCK/HNF-1α mutation was conducted. Data on variables such as birthweight, mode of delivery, and the treatment of hyperglycemia were available on 89 pregnancies.

Results

The birthweight in unaffected GCK offspring was significantly higher than in the affected GCK offspring (4.8 [4.1-5.2] kg vs 3.2 [3.1-3.7] kg; P = .01). Seven-point home blood glucose monitoring over a 7-day period in each trimester demonstrated higher fasting and postprandial glycemic excursions in the first trimester of GCK pregnancies when compared to HNF-1α pregnancies (fasting 104 [90-115] mg/dL vs 84 [77-88] mg/dL; P = .01 and postprandial 154 [135-196] mg/dL vs 111 [100-131] mg/dL; P = .04) despite insulin treatment. There was a higher percentage of miscarriages in the GCK group when compared to the HNF-1α MODY group (33.3% vs 14%; P = .07), which was similar to the background population. Insulin initiated at an early gestation appeared to lower the incidence of macrosomia in GCK unaffected offspring.

Conclusion

Hyperglycemia in HNF-1α pregnancies is easily managed with current insulin protocols; in contrast, glycemic excursions are difficult to manage in GCK pregnancies. There was an increased percentage of miscarriages in GCK pregnancies highlighting the importance of a diagnosis of GCK-MODY in women prior to conception and the necessity for preconception care.

Section snippets

Subjects

A total of 37 (n = 12, GCK; n = 25, HNF-1α) women participated in the study; these women were identified as part of the MODY cohort screening study in the Mater Hospital.17 The GCK mutations were p.D311fs, A378V, p.I293R, L146fs, D160N, and p.Y61X (6 pedigrees). The HNF-1α mutations were P379T, p.L502fs, V351fsdelG, c.1502_6 G>A, p.G292fs, S335X, Ser352fs, p.R159Q, p.R200Q, and P.E230fs (11 pedigrees).

We retrospectively studied the pregnancy outcome in these 37 women. The mutation status was

Clinical parameters

The clinical characteristics of the participants are contained in Table 1.

There was no significant difference in birthweight in GCK pregnancies when compared to HNF-1α pregnancies (3.9 [3.2-4.5] kg vs 3.6 [3.1-4] kg; P = .4). Insulin doses expressed in U/kg did not significantly differ between the groups throughout the trimesters (Figure 1). In both the GCK and the HNF-1α group 7 injections (3 short-acting insulin analogs and 4 neutral protamine hagedorn injections) were required in the

Comment

To date, publications on MODY in pregnancy have focused largely on fetal size as dictated by mutation status or the mode of treatment used to treat hyperglycemia during the pregnancy. To our knowledge, this is the first article to observe glycemic variability and detail fetal and neonatal outcomes in pregnancies complicated by MODY.

This is the first report on the clinical management of pregnancies complicated by HNF-1α MODY. We report that HNF-1α MODY is a relatively easy disorder to manage

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    This study was supported by grant number HPF-2013-459 from the Health Research Board of Ireland awarded to S.B.

    The authors report no conflict of interest.

    Cite this article as: Bacon S, Schmid J, McCarthy A, et al. The clinical management of hyperglycemia in pregnancy complicated by maturity-onset diabetes of the young. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2015;213:236.e1-7.

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