Increasing Rate of Body Fat Percentage as a New Risk Factor for New-Onset Diabetes Mellitus after Kidney Transplantation

Abstract

Introduction: New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a serious and frequent complication after kidney transplantation. Obesity was recently identified as a risk factor of NODAT, and also an important therapeutic target since it can be modified by lifestyle intervention including diet and physical activity. Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat, and body fat percentage (BF%) has been commonly measured by different techniques including bioelectrical impedance analysis. The aim of this study was to elucidate the availability of BF% measurements for evaluation of obesity and NODAT. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 45 nondiabetic patients who received kidney transplantation between March 2008 and December 2010 in our hospital. We compared patients with and without developing NODAT concerning increasing rate of BF% and demographic variables. Results: Four patients (8.9%) developed NODAT during outpatient follow-up (median follow-up: 30.3 months). The increasing rate of BF% was much higher in NODAT patients (median rate: 32.4% vs. -1.3%, p< 0.05), and the increasing rate more than 20% of BF% was a risk factor for NODAT (HR: 10.5 [1.22-90.3], p< 0.05). Conclusion: Our results indicate that high increasing rate of BF% might be an important risk factor for NODAT and suggest that BF% measurements should be a useful tool in the routine medical practice.