Serum chromium levels in gestational diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE: To measure serum chromium level in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) from Chennai, South India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty women with gestational diabetes, 60 age matched controls. Inclusion criteria: Gestational age 22-28 weeks, age group 20-35 years. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Gestational age beyond 28 weeks, malnutrition or presence of infection. Serum chromium was measured using inductive couple plasma emission spectrometer. RESULTS: Serum chromium levels of women with GDM, 1.59+/-0.02 ng/ml (range: 0.16-4.0 ng/ml) were lower than in controls (4.58+/-0.62 ng/ml; range 0.82-5.33 ng/ml) (P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences among cases and controls when subdivided by parity. CONCLUSIONS: Women with GDM from a South Indian city had lower levels of serum chromium compared to pregnant women without GDM. Studies may be done whether chromium supplementation is useful in this group of women.