Context: Impact of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on the coagulation system, dynamics involved at a pathophysiological level and the exact mechanism remain unclear.
Aims: To evaluate the association between diabetes-related parameters and hemostatic factors to search for a tendency of thrombosis in GDM.
Settings and design: Nineteen pregnant women who had GDM, 16 healthy pregnant and 13 healthy nonpregnant controls admitted to the Endocrinology outpatient clinics were enrolled in the study.
Subjects and methods: Fasting and postprandial glucose, hemoglobin A1c and insulin levels, and insulin resistance; fructosamine, thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), plasminogen activator inhibitor Type-1 (PAI-1), tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), fibrinogen, plasminogen and hemoglobin levels, platelet counts, prothrombin time (PT), and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were studied.
Statistical analysis used: One-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis, and post hoc Tukey honestly significant difference or Conover's nonparametric multiple comparison tests for comparison of the study groups.
Results: PT and aPTT were significantly lower in GDM patients compared to controls (P < 0.05), whereas fibrinogen and plasminogen levels were significantly higher in this group compared to both nonpregnant and healthy pregnant controls (P < 0.05 for each). TAFI, TFPI, PAI-1, and tissue t-PA levels were not significantly different among groups.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate tendency to develop thrombosis in GDM similar to diabetes mellitus; but more comprehensive studies with larger sample size are needed to determine the relationship between GDM and hemostasis.
Keywords: Gestational diabetes mellitus; hemostatic factors; thrombosis.