Clinical and biochemical studies in the prediabetic phase of tropical calcific pancreatitis

The frequency of diabetes is much higher in tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP) as compared with alcoholic chronic pancreatitis. We report 97 patients with tropical calcific pancreatitis and compare the profile of 21 patients without diabetes (called TCP for the purpose of this report) with that of 76 patients with diabetes, called fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (FCPD) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) study group classification of diabetes. TCP patients were a decade younger and had marginally higher body mass indices (BMIs) as compared with the FCPD group. Of the TCP patients, 13 had abnormal glucose tolerance tests (GTT) and the others had normal GTT. Immunoreactive insulin (IRI) responses to glucose load in the TCP group did not differ significantly from that of the control group. This study shows the existence of early stages of glucose intolerance in TCP.