Comparison of cord blood alarin levels of full-term infants according to birth weight

J Perinat Med. 2024 Oct 28. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2024-0236. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the cord blood alarin levels of infants in different birth weight groups with those of infants born to mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) who were not subgrouped according to birth weight.

Methods: This prospective study was conducted between September 2023 and January 2024. Healthy term babies whose families agreed to participate in the study were divided into four groups according to their birth weight (small for gestational age (SGA), appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and large for gestational age (LGA)) and whether their mothers had GDM.

Results: There was a significant difference between the cord blood alarin levels of the AGA and SGA groups (p=0.014). There was also a significant difference between the cord blood alarin levels of the AGA and GDM groups (p=0.012). However, the cord blood alarin levels of the LGA group (whose mothers did not have GDM) were similar to those of the AGA group (p=0.394).

Conclusions: We found evidence that alarin levels in umbilical cord blood are associated with low birth weight and GDM.

Keywords: alarin; gestational diabetes mellitus; newborn; small for gestational age.