New-onset diabetes mellitus after living donor liver transplantation: possible association with hepatitis C.

Background: The relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) after liver transplantation is a controversial issue.

Methods: A total of 223 adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) recipients followed for more than 6 months were analyzed for the prevalence of NODM. The prevalence was compared between 62 HCV-positive and 161 HCV-negative patients. All the HCV-positive patients underwent preemptive antiviral treatment with interferon alpha2b and ribavirin.

Results: Preoperative diabetes mellitus was more frequently observed in HCV-positive patients (18% vs 4%, P = .001). NODM occurred more frequently in HCV-positive patients (41% vs 22%, P = .003). Multivariate analysis, however, revealed that HCV was not a predictor for NODM. A comparison of 14 HCV-positive patients with persistent NODM and 48 patients without persistent NODM indicated that there was no significant difference in the frequency of the viral response to antiviral therapy nor in HCV-RNA levels. Impaired glucose tolerance did not impact postoperative survival after LDLT.

Conclusions: HCV was not associated with the prevalence of NODM after LDLT. NODM did not influence patient survival.