Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Practice Point
  • Published:

Assessing the risk of post-transplantation diabetes mellitus with an oral glucose tolerance test

Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology volume 4, pages 600–601 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

This Practice Point commentary discusses the findings of a prospective study by Kuypers et al. that was designed to determine the best clinical diagnostic tool for identifying patients at risk of developing post-transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) following renal transplantation. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels on the day of transplantation and FPG levels and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at 5 days after transplantation were evaluated in de novo renal transplant recipients. The predictive values of these tests were assessed alongside other known risk factors for PTDM. A normal (vs diabetic) OGTT on day 5 was associated with a significantly reduced risk for PTDM (odds ratio 0.03; P = 0.0002). A similar reduction in the risk of PTDM was conferred by normal FPG levels on day 5 (odds ratio 0.06; P <0.0001). While the OGTT or FPG test at 5 days after transplantation might prove to be useful predictive diagnostic tools for the development of PTDM, studies that incorporate baseline evaluation of pre-existing glucose metabolic disorders are needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Pham PT et al. (2007) New onset diabetes mellitus after solid organ transplantation. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am 36: 873–890

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kuypers DR et al. (2008) Early clinical assessment of glucose metabolism in renal allograft recipients: diagnosis and prediction of post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM). Nephrol Dial Transplant 23: 2033–2042

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Pham PT et al. (2007) The medical management of the renal transplant recipient. In Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology, edn 3, 1085–1101 (Eds Johnson RJ. et al.) Philadelphia: Mosby

    Google Scholar 

  4. Baid S et al. (2001) Posttransplant diabetes in liver transplant recipients: risk factors, temporal relationship with hepatitis C virus allograft hepatitis, and impact on mortality. Transplantation 72: 1066–1072

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Nathan DM et al. (2007) Impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance: implications for care. Diabetes Care 30: 753–759

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sharif A et al. (2006) The use of oral glucose tolerance tests to risk stratify for new-onset diabetes after transplantation: an underdiagnosed phenomenon. Transplantation 82: 1667–1672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Valderhaug TG et al. (2007) Reduced incidence of new-onset postransplantation diabetes mellitus during the last decade. Transplantation 84: 1125–1130

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PT Pham is Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Outpatient Services at the David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles,

    Phuong-Thu Pham

  2. PC Pham is Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine and at the Olive View–UCLA Medical Center, Sylmar, CA, USA.,

    Phuong-Chi Pham

Authors
  1. Phuong-Thu Pham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Phuong-Chi Pham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Phuong-Thu Pham.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pham, PT., Pham, PC. Assessing the risk of post-transplantation diabetes mellitus with an oral glucose tolerance test. Nat Rev Nephrol 4, 600–601 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneph0928

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneph0928

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing