Predictive factors associated with the reversibility of post-transplantation diabetes mellitus following liver transplantation

Risk factors and prediction score for new-onset diabetes mellitus after liver transplantation

AIM

New-onset diabetes mellitus is a frequent and severe complication arising after liver transplantation (LT). We aimed to identify the risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus after liver transplantation (NODALT) and to develop a risk prediction score system for relevant risks.

METHODS

We collected and analyzed data from all recipients who underwent liver transplantation at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. The OR derived from a multiple logistic regression predicting the presence of NODALT was used to calculate the risk prediction score. The performance of the risk prediction score was externally validated in patients who were from the CLTR (China Liver Transplant Registry) database.

RESULTS

A total of 468 patients met the outlined criteria and finished the follow-up. Overall, NODALT was diagnosed in 115 (24.6%) patients. Age, preoperative impaired fasting glucose (IFG), postoperative fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and the length of hospital stay were significantly associated with the presence of NODALT. The risk prediction score includes age, preoperative IFG, postoperative FPG, and the length of hospital stay. The risk prediction score of the area under the receiver operating curve was 0.785 (95% CI: 0.724-0.846) in the experimental population and 0.782 (95% CI: 0.708-0.856) in the validation population.

CONCLUSIONS

Age at the time of transplantation, preoperative IFG, postoperative FPG, and length of hospital stay were independent predictive factors of NODALT. The use of a simple risk prediction score can identify the patients who have the highest risk of NODALT and interventions may start early.

An Analysis of the Risk Factors for New-Onset Diabetes Mellitus After Liver Transplantation

Objective

To investigate the risk factors related to new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) and the significance of IL-6.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from 64 patients who received either a living donor liver transplantation or a donation after circulatory death from September 2013 to October 2020 and attended regular follow-up visits for six or more months. During follow-up, patients were randomized into groups and followed up until the completion of the study or the death of the patient.

Results

The incidence of NODM was 31.25% (n = 20). The median age in the NODM group was 52.15 years (p < 0.01). Age (OR = 1.089; 95% CI: 0.0211-0.1495, p = 0.003) and elevated preoperative IL-6 (OR = 1.122; 95% CI: 0.0619-0.1677, p = 0.029) were found to be independent risk factors for NODM. HBV-induced liver cirrhosis, warm ischemia time (WIT), body mass index (BMI), and high preoperative fasting blood glucose (FBG) were also found to be risk factors for NODM. The recipient had a higher risk of NODM if the donor had a high BMI and poor hepatic function. The concentrations of IL-6, procalcitonin (PCT), FBG, and tacrolimus (TAC) in the first month postoperatively were significantly higher in the NODM group than in the NO-NODM group. The survival rate of the patients was not affected by NODM.

Conclusion

HBV-induced liver cirrhosis, WIT, BMI, and high preoperative FBG levels are risk factors for NODM, and age and preoperative IL-6 levels are independent risk factors. To a certain extent, higher BMI and poor hepatic function had reference significance for the incidence of NODM. Patients with a high concentration of FBG, IL-6, and TAC in the first month postoperatively had an increased risk of suffering from NODM.

Metabolic syndrome following liver transplantation in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Metabolic syndrome is a major clinical disorder involving metabolic dysregulation characterized clinically with features of central obesity, insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Metabolic syndrome is strongly associated with the rising prevalence nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a leading indication for orthotopic liver transplantation in the Western world. The presence or recurrence of metabolic syndrome following liver transplantation can contribute to the development and recurrence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the liver allograft. In this review, we discuss the endogenous and exogenous drivers of post-transplant metabolic syndrome, role of chronic immunosuppression, and the prevalence and clinical significant of post-transplant metabolic syndrome on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Post-Liver Transplantation Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of Relevance and Approach to Treatment

Post-liver transplantation diabetes mellitus (PLTDM) develops in up to 30% of liver transplant recipients and is associated with increased risk of mortality and multiple morbid outcomes. PLTDM is a multicausal disorder, but the main risk factor is the use of immunosuppressive agents of the calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) family (tacrolimus and cyclosporine). Additional factors, such as pre-transplant overweight, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and hepatitis C virus infection, may further increase risk of developing PLTDM. A diagnosis of PLTDM should be established only after doses of CNI and steroids are stable and the post-operative stress has been overcome. The predominant defect induced by CNI is insulin secretory dysfunction. Plasma glucose control must start immediately after the transplant procedure in order to improve long-term results for both patient and transplant. Among the better known antidiabetics, metformin and DPP-4 inhibitors have a particularly benign profile in the PLTDM context and are the preferred oral agents for long-term management. Insulin therapy is also an effective approach that addresses the prevailing pathophysiological defect of the disorder. There is still insufficient evidence about the impact of newer families of antidiabetics (GLP-1 agonists, SGLT-2 inhibitors) on PLTDM. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, course of disease and medical management of PLTDM.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Metabolic Syndrome after Liver Transplant

Liver transplant is the unique curative therapy for patients with acute liver failure or end-stage liver disease, with or without hepatocellular carcinoma. Increase of body weight, onset of insulin resistance and drug-induced alterations of metabolism are reported in liver transplant recipients. In this context, post-transplant diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and arterial hypertension can be often diagnosed. Multifactorial illnesses occurring in the post-transplant period represent significant causes of morbidity and mortality. This is especially true for metabolic syndrome. Non-alcoholic steatosis and steatohepatitis are hepatic manifestations of metabolic syndrome and after liver transplant both recurrent and de novo steatosis can be found. Usually, post-transplant steatosis shows an indolent outcome with few cases of fibrosis progression. However, in the post-transplant setting, both metabolic syndrome and steatosis might play a key role in the stratification of morbidity and mortality risk, being commonly associated with cardiovascular disease. The single components of metabolic syndrome can be treated with targeted drugs while lifestyle intervention is the only reasonable therapeutic approach for transplant patients with non-alcoholic steatosis or steatohepatitis.

Risk factors of metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation

BACKGROUND

Liver transplantation is a treatment of choice for both acute and chronic liver failure. Accompanied with the increase of long-term survival rates of recipients, metabolic syndrome and its individual components, including obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, have become more frequent post liver transplantation. Here we reviewed the literature concerning the risk factors for the development of metabolic complications in liver recipients.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed was searched for English-language articles published from January 2000 to June 2015. The search criteria focused on risk factors for metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation.

RESULT

The risk factors of metabolic syndrome in liver recipients include older age, obesity, pre-transplantation diabetes mellitus, hepatitis C virus infection, certain genetic polymorphisms and the use of immunosuppressive drugs.

CONCLUSION

Active intervention of the risk factors will reduce the occurrence rate of metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation and improve the recipients' quality of life.

Association between E23K variant in KCNJ11 gene and new-onset diabetes after liver transplantation

New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is an important complication after solid organ transplantation. NODAT is a polygenic disease and KCNJ11 E23K polymorphism is considered as a diabetes-susceptibility gene. The present study aimed to assess the association between KCNJ11 (rs5219) variants and the risk of developing NODAT after liver transplantation. This study was conducted on 120 liver transplant recipients who had received tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive drugs. The liver transplant recipients were divided into an new onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) and a non-NODM group. The NODAT group consisted of 60 patients who developed diabetes in the first 6 months after transplantation, while the non-NODAT group included 60 patients who remained euglycemic. The patients were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and the incidence of NODAT was compared between the two groups. Nongenetic risk factors including donor gender and cold ischemia time, and recipient (MELD score, presence of viral hepatitis, acute rejection and steroid pulse therapy) were also considered. The KCNJ11 KK variant was associated with an increased risk for NODAT with respective odds ratio of 6.03 (95 % confidence interval 2.37-15.4; P < 0.001]. Donor age and male sex, recipient age as well as fasting plasma glucose before transplantation were significantly different between NODAT and non-NODAT groups (P < 0.05). The prednisolone daily dosage was significantly higher in the NODAT group (P = 0.01). These patients received pulse of methyl prednisolone for treatment of acute rejection. This study showed that polymorphisms in KCNJ11 might predispose the patients treated by tacrolimus to development of NODAT after liver transplantation.

Long-term outcome after liver transplantation

Liver transplantation is a life-saving therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease, acute liver failure, and liver tumors. Over the past 4 decades, improvements in surgical techniques, peritransplant intensive care, and immunosuppressive regimens have resulted in significant improvements in short-term survival. Focus has now shifted to addressing long-term complications and improving quality of life in liver recipients. These include adverse effects of immunosuppression; recurrence of the primary liver disease; and management of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, renal dysfunction, osteoporosis, and de novo malignancy. Issues such as posttransplant depression, employment, sexual function, fertility, and pregnancy must not be overlooked, as they have a direct impact on the liver recipient's quality of life. This review summarizes the latest data in long-term outcome after liver transplantation.

Comparison of adverse drug reaction profiles of two tacrolimus formulations in rats

Tacrobell(®) (TB) is a generic tacrolimus which showed the comparable efficacy to original product, Prograf(®) (PG) in renal transplantation, but toxicity between two drugs is unclear. The aim of this study was to compare the toxicity between these two formulations. TB and PG (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg/day) was administered to rats for 4 weeks. The rat survival rate, kidney, liver and pancreas injury was investigated. The survival rate was similar between TB- and PG-treated rats. TB and PG induced renal dysfunction in a dose-dependent manner. Compared to PG treatment in equal dose, TB treatment reduced urinary creatinine clearance in a less degree and renal interstitial fibrosis was comparable between two regimens. The r-glutamyl transpeptidase was aggravated by tacrolimus treatment, and this was not different between TB and PG treatment. In the intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, a significant diabetogenic effect was observed in all tacrolimus treated-rats. The glucose tolerance of TB-treated rats was similar to those of PG-treated rats in each dose. The decrement in pancreatic β-cell mass by tacrolimus showed the dose-dependent response and it was comparable between TB and PG treatment. In conclusion, TB is similar to PG in terms of nephrotoxicity, hepatoxicity and diabetogenic effect.