Posttransplant diabetes mellitus among live-related kidney transplant recipients: Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation experience

This cross-sectional study conducted at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Karachi, Pakistan aimed to determine the frequency and risk factors of posttransplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) among live-related kidney transplant recipients and their short-term prognosis and included renal transplant recipients (nondiabetic before transplant) of either gender, aged 18–60 years with transplant duration two to six months. Patients with two reading of fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL were labeled as diabetic. A total of 191 patients (154 males and 37 females) with the age between 18 to 60 years (31.5 ± 9.33 years) were included and 30 patients (15.8%) including 23 males and seven females had PTDM. Age of the patients between 26 and 35 years, previous hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection/antiviral therapy, and Tacrolimus as maintenance immunosuppression were found to be more frequent among those with PTDM. After six months of follow-up, the serum creatinine of patients with PTDM was significantly higher than that of those without PTDM (1.15 ± 0.28 vs. 1.01 ± 0.16, P ≤0.0121); however at one year follow up, there was no significant difference between the serum creatinine of both groups (1.28 ± 0.38 vs. 1.37 ± 0.59, P = 0.332). PTDM is an important metabolic derangement affecting a number of kidney transplant recipients. Its risk factors are previous HCV infection, tacrolimus as immunosuppression and young age. It can have an adverse effect on graft function and survival. Therefore, long-term follow-up is warranted to optimize the graft function and patient survival