Influence of prolonged starvation on glucose kinetics in pregnant patients infected with Plasmodium falciparum

Hypoglycaemia is a recognised complication of malaria in pregnancy, but its pathophysiology is not well understood. We studied the influence of fasting on glucose production and gluconeogenesis by infusion of [6,6-2H2]glucose and ingestion of 2H2O in 20 female subjects, eight pregnant patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria, six pregnant controls matched for age and trimester and six non-pregnant controls matched for age.