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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
Basal-bolus insulin therapy reduces maternal triglycerides in gestational diabetes without modifying cholesteryl
Pablo R Olmos1,2, Gisella R Borzone3
1Departments of Nutrition, Diabetes & Metabolism, College of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Aim:
Macrosomia in the offspring of overweight/obese mothers with glucose-controlled gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is due to excessive rise of maternal triglycerides (TG). We aimed to ascertain whether basal-bolus insulin therapy (BBIT), or other components of the treatment, could reduce TG in GDM.
Methods:
We studied the records of 131 singleton pregnancies with GDM, using stepwise multiple linear regression, Mann-Whitney, χ2 , and Jonckheere-Terpstra tests. As maternal TG increased steadily during normal pregnancy, these were transformed as z-scores. The atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) was calculated as a measure of cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity.
Results:
Multiple regression showed that only BBIT (but neither limitation of weight gain nor metformin) reduced maternal TG z-scores (P = 0.011). When the 131 pregnancies were split into two groups - without BBIT (n = 58; HbA1c = 5.3 ± 0.3%) and with BBIT (n = 73; HbA1c = 5.4 ± 0.6; P = 0.2005) - we observed that BBIT (n = 73) reduced maternal TG z-scores in a dose-related fashion (Jonckheere-Terpstra P = 0.03817). The atherogenic index of plasma remained within normal range in both groups.
Conclusion:
BBIT (but not weight gain control nor metformin) reduced maternal TG in mothers with glucose-controlled GDM. This beneficial effect of BBIT was not related to changes in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity.
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