Background: Glucose intolerance
occurs frequently in patients with
liver cirrhosis. However, few studies
have assessed its prognostic value
in patients with liver cirrhosis. Aim:
To evaluate the importance of oral
glucose tolerance test (OGTT), insulinlike growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and serum
transferrin (TRF) in prediction of disease
outcome in patients with post-hepatitic
liver cirrhosis. Methods: Seventyfour patients with posthepatitic liver
cirrhosis and 30 healthy controls
were recruited. All participants were
subjected to OGTT and estimation of
serum IGF-1 and TRF levels at the start
of the study. All patients were followed
up for one year. Results: OGTT revealed
that 28 patients (38%) had normal
glucose tolerance (NGT), 20 patients
(27%) had impaired glucose tolerance
(IGT), while 26 patients (35%) had frank
diabetes mellitus (DM). A significant
decrease of serum IGF-1 was found in
patients (in all Child classes) compared
to the controls. Mean serum transferrin
didn’t differ between patients and
controls, but it was significantly
higher in Child C patients compared
to Child A and B. All diabetic patients
developed complications during their
follow up. Multiple logistic regression
analysis revealed that Child-Pugh
score, serum albumin and the presence
of diabetes mellitus are the most
powerful independent predictors
of complications. Conclusion: IGF-1
decreases early in liver cirrhosis and may
indicate early synthetic dysfunction.
OGTT should be combined with ChildPugh scoring in the assessment of
prognosis in cirrhotic patients