First-trimester blood test significantly improves prediction of gestational diabetes
Published: 19 Aug 2025
Dr Yang Jiaxi, Senior Research Fellow at the Global Centre for Asian Women’s Health (GloW) and first author of the study, and Prof Cuilin Zhang, Director of GloW and senior author of the study. Credit: NUS Medicine.
A new study published in BMC Medicine led by researchers from the Global Centre for Asian Women’s Health (GloW) and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) recently have found that selected maternal biomarkers from first-trimester random blood samples can effectively predict a woman’s risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
The seven first-trimester biomarkers from random blood could significantly improve GDM risk prediction beyond conventional factors such as maternal age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, and family history of diabetes. Promisingly, these biomarkers performed just as well as those from second-trimester fasting blood samples, showing strong ability to distinguish high-risk from low-risk pregnancies and demonstrating a strong level of clinical usefulness.
Until now, most women at risk were only identified midway through pregnancy, often too late to prevent adverse effects such as high blood pressure, large babies, or premature delivery[1]. GDM has also been linked to lifelong risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease for both mothers and their children[2].
As maternal ages and obesity rates rise in Asia, the number of women affected by GDM is expected to increase[3][4]. Early, simple, and effective GDM screening could be key to reversing that trend. By enabling women to make pre-emptive nutrition and lifestyle changes earlier, this breakthrough also contributes to reducing their risk of future type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Read more in the press release here.
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[2] McIntyre HD, Catalano P, Zhang C, Desoye G, Mathiesen ER, Damm P. Gestational diabetes mellitus. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2019; 5:47.
[3] Kato T, Yorifuji T, Yamakawa M, Inoue S, Doi H, Eboshida A, Kawachi I. Association of maternal age with child health: A Japanese longitudinal study. PLoS One. 2017 Feb 24;12(2): e0172544.
[4] Li Y, Teng D, Shi X, Teng X, Teng W, Shan Z, Lai Y. Changes in the prevalence of obesity and hypertension and demographic risk factor profiles in China over 10 years: two national cross-sectional surveys. The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific. 2021 Oct 1;15.
