Association between hepatitis C virus infection and development of posttransplantation diabetes mellitus in renal transplant recipients.

Background: Posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a metabolic complication of renal transplantation. A high prevalence of DM has been recently reported in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the nontransplant population. The aim of this study was to investigate possible factors that may have a role in the development of DM, including HCV infection in renal transplant recipients.

Patients And Methods: This case-control study included 43 patients with PTDM (36 men, 7 women; mean age, 44+/-10 years) and 43 consecutive transplant patients who did not develop PTDM (30 men, 13 women; mean age, 37+/-11 years). Age, body mass index, high-dose steroid use, family history for DM and HCV, and presence of HLA-DR2, -DR3, and -DR4 were considered as possible factors for predicting PTDM.

Results: Patients with PTDM were older (P=0.002) and had a higher prevalence of family history of DM (61% vs. 9%, P<0.001) and a higher rate of HCV seropositivity (72% vs. 37%, P=0.002; odds ratio = 1.94; 95% confidence interval = 1.26-2.98). The prevalence of pancreatic autoantibodies (anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase, islet cell antibody) was similar between patients with and without PTDM. In logistic regression analysis (r = 0.61, P<0.001), age, family history, and HCV infection were independent variables for predicting development of PTDM.

Conclusion: HCV infection was associated with the development of PTDM, in addition to family history and increased age. The rate of autoantibodies against pancreatic cells was not increased in patients with HCV, which suggested that nonimmunologic mechanisms were likely to have a role in the pathogenesis of PTDM.