Glucose and insulin levels in young subjects with different maternal histories of hypertension: the Hypertension in Pregnancy Offspring Study.

Objective: To analyse whether hypertension during pregnancy is associated with early signs of impaired glucose metabolism in the offspring.

Design: Longitudinal study with a 5-year follow-up.

Setting: University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.

Main Outcome Measures: Fasting levels of glucose, insulin and C-peptide.

Subjects: Thirty-six children were born to mothers with hypertension in pregnancy. The children were divided into two groups according to their mothers' blood pressure at follow-up 7-12 years after pregnancy. Nineteen children had hypertensive mothers (HT), while 17 children had normotensive mothers at follow-up (NT). A control group (C) comprised 16 children, who were born after normotensive pregnancies to mothers who remained normotensive.

Results: Fasting plasma glucose was significantly higher in HT than in NT (5.2 vs. 4.9 mmol L-1; P < 0.05). In C fasting glucose was 5.1 mmol L-1. The same trend was seen for fasting insulin in HT. NT and C, respectively (6.7 vs. 4.7 vs. 5.3 microU mL-1). The C-peptide level was 1.61, 155 and 1.64 ng mL-1, respectively. Calculated insulin resistance was 1.5 in HT. 1.0 in NT and 1.2 in C.

Conclusions: It is suggested that hypertension during pregnancy may be associated with impaired glucose metabolism and elevated fasting glucose levels in the offspring during adolescence.