A Comparison of Glyburide and Insulin in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Hyperglycemia can lead to several adverse outcomes of pregnancy in women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. The guidelines focus on dietary management and an insulin regimen if diet alone is not meeting the requirements.
Several associations have recommended that sulphonylurea drugs should not be given during pregnancy since they have a potency to cause neonatal hypoglycemia.
Michael D. Berkus and colleagues thereby conducted a research titled “A comparison of glyburide and insulin in women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus”
Objective:
Since the laboratory studies have demonstrated that glyburide does not cross the human placenta in appreciable quantities in contrast to older sulfonylurea drugs and metformin, the aim was to explore whether glyburide might be a substitute to insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes.
Method:
404 women with singleton pregnancies and gestational diabetes were chosen for the study. Between 11 to 33 weeks, the women were randomly assigned to receive glyburide or human insulin. Their past medical history was recorded.
The essential outcome variable was the achievement of glycemic control and the secondary outcome was maternal and fetal complications.
Findings:
Among women with gestational diabetes, Glyburide was as potent as insulin. The glycemic control and postnatal outcomes were similar in both cases. Glyburide was not found in the cord-serum of any infant which indicated that there was no transfer of glyburide from mother to fetus or vice versa in full-term infants.
Women were treated with glyburide post organogenesis and the anomalies were same in both the groups.and also to earlier reported rates of congenital anomalies in infants born to women not having gestational diabetes.
Furthermore, the data on the potency of sulponylurea is also limited.
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