Hepatitis C Triples Diabetes Risk Following Kidney Transplantation

Risk for developing diabetes after undergoing kidney transplantation increased more than threefold for adults with presurgical hepatitis C infection vs. those with hepatitis B and those without infection, according to study results from researchers in China.

Yu Mingxiang , MD, chief physician in the departments of endocrinology and metabolism at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of 557 kidney transplant recipients from 1993 to 2014 at Zhongshan Hospital. Patients were divided into four groups: those infected with HCV prior to transplantation (n = 34), those with HBV (n = 46), those with HBV and HCV (n = 7), and those uninfected (n = 470). Each participant underwent outpatient monitoring every month for 1 year after transplantation. Visits were made every 2 to 3 months after the first year. Diagnosis of diabetes was not made until at least 3 months after transplantation to avoid potentially confounding factors from immediate surgery side effects.

Of the 557 participants, 120 were diagnosed with diabetes during the observation period. Time from transplantation to diabetes diagnosis was a median of 7.53 years. The researchers discovered more participants in the HCV group developed diabetes (55.88%) than the other groups (P < .001), while those with both HCV and HBV had an even higher rate (71.43%).