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The Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus in Sickle Cell Hemoglobinopathies^*

Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Divisions of Hematology and Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, and the Clinical Research Center, University of Tennessee, Center for the Health Sciences Memphis, Tennessee 38163

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. John C. Morrison, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee 38163.

Because of the impression obtained from our population with sickle cell anemia that there were no cases of diabetics, a study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in: 1) 186 cases of pregnant black patients with sickle cell disease (HbS-S, S-C, or S-Thal) or HgA-S with random and 2-h postprandial blood glucose (compared to 2263 matched control patients); 2) a study of the hemoglobin pattern in 280 consecutive cases of nonpregnant black patients with confirmed diabetes mellitus in our outpatient clinic; and 3) a review of the records of 711 patients with sickle cell disease in our Sickle Cell Center with performance of a 100-g oral glucose tolerance test on 5 patients with random plasma glucose greater than 120 mg/dl. These studies showed: 1) there were no diabetics in pregnant black patients as compared to a 4% incidence of abnormal glucose tolerance in a control, matched population; 2) there were no cases of sickle cell disease in the diabetic population; and 3) there was a glucose tolerance test revealing normal glucose, insulin, and glucagon responses in 5 of the patients tested. An examination of the records of 711 patients with sickle cell disease for signs and symptoms of diabetes mellitus revealed no patient with such symptoms or any who was on insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents. These studies demonstrate the low prevalence rate of diabetes mellitus in the patients with sickle cell disease. The significance of these findings are not apparent at this time; however, the importance of these results need to be established in collaborative research efforts with other centers. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 48: 192, 1979)

^* This work was supported in part by NIH Grant HL-15169 and General Clinical Research Grant RR-00211.

Received August 12, 1978.