Glycosylated serum proteins and glycosylated haemoglobin in normal pregnancy.

Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1) and glycosylated serum protein concentrations (fructosamine) were monitored in 162 normal pregnancies. The response to the standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was used to exclude gestational diabetes. A significant increase in glucose intolerance, measured from the area under the OGTT-curve (r = 0.29, P less than 0.0005) and a highly significant decrease in serum albumin concentration (r = -0.79, P less than 0.0005) due to the redistribution of body water, as occurs during pregnancy, resulted in a statistically significant decrease in serum fructosamine concentration (r = -0.23, P less than 0.01) when related to gestational age in weeks.