| Approximately 20% of liver transplant recipients develop post transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM), which severely increases morbidity and mortality in this population. Very little is known about the disease pathways associated with PTDM. This study collected data to decipher the etiology of PTDM using a genetics-based microarray approach to access the level of transcription in peripheral blood of over 47,000 transcripts with the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133 2.0 array. Differential gene expression in liver transplant recipients with and without PTDM and with and without Hepatitis C (HCV) was evaluated and the genes with the greatest differential expression were identified. Descriptions of the ten genes with the greatest up and down regulation for each experiment were provided. Several genes that have previously been associated with type 1 and type 2 diabetes were identified in the PTDM subjects. In the subgroup of subjects with PTDM and HCV, several genes linked with autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes were identified, suggesting the possibility of a different biologic mechanism for the development of PTDM in subjects with HCV. The findings from this study have helped define the genetic changes associated with PTDM and HCV and raise the possibility that PTDM may have a different etiology depending on the underlying liver disease. |
