Time Is Glucose, Can't Miss Gestational Diabetes

Abstract Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, if not treated. International guidelines recommend screening “all or high-risk women” at the initial prenatal visit, when a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) between 92 and 126 mg/dL is diagnostic for GDM. However, glucose testing may be affected by a great pre-analytical variability (usually overlooked), due to, for example, kind of sample (serum/plasma), temperature of storage, time between blood draw and centrifugation (in-tube glycolysis), and use of a glycolysis inhibitor. So GDM may be easily missed. We aimed to evaluate the potential characteristics of this important issue. Subjects and Methods: FPG was tested by both “routine” and “gold standard” protocols in 60 women at the first trimester of gestation, presenting for GDM screening. “Routine” blood plasma was collected in a tube with sodium fluoride, kept at room temperature, centrifuged, and tested 30–45 min after blood draw. “Gold standard” was a ...