A Study of Association of Insulin Resistance with Pregnancy-induced Hypertension

Background: Preeclampsia is one of the important causes of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. One of the important risk factors for the development of diabetes is insulin resistance (IR).

Aims: To evaluate the association of IR with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and its severity.

Materials and methods: Data from 70 pregnant females who had completed 20 weeks of gestation and developed PIH were analyzed and compared with 30 appropriate controls. All females underwent measurement of fasting glucose level, fasting insulin level, and blood pressure.

Results: The mean age of the women in the control group was 26.17 years, and in the study group, it was 27.09 years. All females had completed 20 weeks of gestation. Around 86.6% of women in the control group, 54.1% with a variable degree of preeclampsia, and 48.6% of women with eclampsia were at 33-38 weeks of gestation. At the time of sampling, 13.3% of women in the control group, 45.81% of women with preeclampsia, and 51.3% of women with eclampsia were at 26-32 weeks of gestation. The mean IR among the control group was 1.37, in preeclampsia, it was 2.11, and in eclampsia, it was 3.58 with a p-value of 0.000, which is very highly significant. In this study, the severity of the disease was found to be directly proportional to IR.

Conclusion: Pregnancy complicated with preeclampsia and eclampsia showed more IR in comparison to pregnant women with normal blood pressure, and this relationship is independent of the age of pregnant women.