Zinc and Insulin Resistance in Pregnancy Complicated with Gestational Diabetes.

Metabolism of certain trace elements, as zinc, was altered in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with insulin resistance (IR) as a key factor in the pathophysiology. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between IR in GDM and plasma, and erythrocyte levels of zinc. Totally 35 pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 37 pregnants with GDM were included. Zinc was measured by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Positive correlations between erythrocyte zinc, plasma zinc and fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin levels and HOMA-IR were found for healthy pregnant group. The correlations between zinc in erythrocytes and FBG, insulin and HOMA-IR were higher than those between plasma zinc and the same parameters with statistical difference for HOMA-IR (P