title: Sudden onset of diabetic ketoacidosis during consensus interferon therapy for chronic viral hepatitis C.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interferon (IFN)-alpha, used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, has rarely been associated with the development of diabetes. Consensus interferon (CIFN), which is used for nonresponders, has not been associated with this complication. We describe the first case of new onset diabetes in a patient on CIFN.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 50-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C and no prior diabetes was started on IFN-alpha. After 24 weeks with a detectable viral load, he was switched to CIFN. Four weeks later, he presented in diabetic ketoacidosis which resolved with appropriate therapy without any ascertainable etiology (glutamic acid decarboxylase negative). Within 9 months he was off insulin, and is off all diabetic medications with an HgA1c of 5.6% 2 years after the episode.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20422, USA. eric.nylen@med.va.Gov
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Nylen
authors.forename: Ira C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Marathe
authors.forename: Irfan A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Romeu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: Kenneth R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Hirsch
mesh_terms: D016883:Diabetic Ketoacidosis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
chemical_list: D007370:Interferon Type I; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C050739:interferon alfacon-1