Predictors of diabetes arising from chronic pancreatitis (CP) have been identified and include T2D risk factors and pancreatic disease-related risk factors, according to a study published in Diabetes Care. Christie Jeon, ScD, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study involving 645 individuals with CP enrolled in the PROCEED study, 276 of whom had diabetes. Univariable and multivariable analyses of potential risk factors for diabetes were performed. Independent correlates of diabetes in CP included risk factors for T2D (older age, overweight/obesity, male sex, non-White race, and tobacco use) and pancreatic disease related factors, including history of acute pancreatitis complications, nonalcoholic etiology of CP, exocrine pancreatic dysfunction, pancreatic calcification, and pancreatic atrophy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.745). For diabetes occurring before pancreatitis, T2D risk factors were predominant, while pancreatic disease-related factors were predominant for diabetes that occurred after pancreatitis. “We anticipate that over time, a sufficient number of incident cases will be available for us to validate the current models or develop new models to predict diabetes in CP,” the study authors wrote. “This would pave the way for diabetes prevention trials in CP.”
