Association of Early Pregnancy Body Iron Stores with the Development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Hospital-Based Cohort Study
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A BSTRACT: Aim: To study the correlation of the early pregnancy body iron store with subsequent risk of development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Materials and Methods: This is a prospective cohort study including 252 pregnant women aged between 18 and 45 years with singleton pregnancy in early weeks of gestation, having hemoglobin levels >10 gm/dl. The study from December 2021 to March 2023. Samples were collected for Serum ferritin, c-reactive protein, serum soluble transferrin receptor protein (STFR) and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) during their first antenatal visit <14 weeks. Repeat OGTT was conducted at 24–28 weeks for non-GDM population. The association between the variables were studied using Chi square and Man Whitney U test. Results: It was observed that 77.3% of the population with high serum ferritin level developed GDM compared to only 8.7% and 10% in low and normal ferritin group respectively. Women with GDM had lower STFR to serum ferritin ratio compared to non-GDM women (106 nanomoles/L vs 433 nanomoles/L at P value < 0.001). 21% (N = 53) of the studied population developed GDM with majority being detected at 24–28 weeks (11.9% vs 10.7%). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that elevated body iron store in early pregnancy is associated with the increased risk of GDM. STFR to ferritin ratio can be used for the accurate estimation of body iron status during gestational diabetes as it eliminates the errors associated with inflammatory conditions.
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High body iron stores in early pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of developing GDM.
“Furthermore, research indicates that high body iron stores in early pregnancy are also associated with an increased risk of developing GDM [102].”
From Maternal Overnutrition and Fetal Programming: Long-Term Metabolic, Cognitive, and Epigenetic Consequences (2026) · cites this paper as [102]
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Cross-Talk Between Iron Metabolism and Diabetes
Fernández-Real, J. M., López-Bermejo, A., & Ricart, W. (2002) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/diabetes.51.8.2348 · Cited by 704 · see citing works
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Schiera, G., Macajone, G., Volpes, S., Greco, L., Di Liegro, C. M., Serio, G., Caradonna, F., & Naselli, F. (2026) · Cells · doi:10.3390/cells15040366 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Singh, J., Jha, S., & Mahto, M.
- Affiliations
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AIIMS, Patna, Bihar, India
- Corresponding author
- Jha, Sangam
- Venue
- Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
- Published
- 2025-05
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2037-2040
- ISSN
- 2249-4863 (ISSN-L)
- 2278-7135
- PMC
- PMC12178534
- OpenAlex
- W4410916285
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3
- FWCI
- 3.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Trace Elements in Health
- Keywords
- gestational diabetes mellitus, iron stores, serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor, iron status, early pregnancy, iron deficiency, C-reactive protein, oral glucose tolerance test, risk factors
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