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Case Reports
. 2008 Aug 7;14(29):4713-5.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.4713.

Abrupt onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus during recombinant interferon-alpha 2b therapy in a patient with chronic hepatitis B

Yuan-Yuan Lv  1 , Bing-Yin Shi, Hui Guo
Affiliations
Case Reports

Abrupt onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus during recombinant interferon-alpha 2b therapy in a patient with chronic hepatitis B

Yuan-Yuan Lv et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

We describe a case of a 33-year-old female patient with chronic hepatitis B who developed type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) after a 13-mo period of treatment with recombinant human interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) 2b. The patient presented with polydipsia, polyuria, hyperglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, combined with C-peptide secretion deficiency and positive islet cell autoantibody (ICAb). IFN-alpha 2b treatment was terminated and instead insulin treatment was initiated. Five months after cessation of the recombinant human IFN-alpha 2b therapy, the patient remained insulin-dependent. Her serum HBV DNA became negative and serum transaminase returned to the normal level after a 10-mo period of IFN therapy. Type 1 DM induced by IFN-alpha is relatively rare in patients with chronic hepatitis B. We should pay more attention to patients on IFN-alpha therapy to avoid destruction of pancreatic beta cells. This is the first case report from China.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Positive islet cell autoantibody in pancreas from a mouse at 1:40 serum dilution tested by immunofluorescence assay (× 200).
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