Changes in Glucose Tolerance in Patients With Cirrhosis Peri-Liver Transplant

The goal of this observational study is to establish risk factors for post-transplant in adult individuals with cirrhosis without diabetes undergoing liver transplant evaluation. The question being addressed is: can laboratory work, anthropometric tests, functional tests, imaging, and advanced measurements such as wrist actigraphy, continuous glucose monitoring, or oral glucose tolerance testing predict the development of diabetes after liver transplant? Participants will be asked to periodically participate in wearing a continuous glucose monitor and wrist actigraph and obtain an oral glucose tolerance test both before and after liver transplant.

Participants will be enrolled from the liver transplant clinic and will be given a continuous glucose monitor, a wrist actigraph, a home sleep apnea testing device, and a questionnaire packet to collect demographics, sleep quality, and physical activity information. They will be scheduled for an outpatient two-hour oral glucose tolerance test, which will use a frequently sampling protocol to allow for mathematical modeling of insulin secretion. They will undergo body composition measurements using a bio-electrical impedance analysis device. Subjects will undergo these tests, excluding the home sleep apnea test, every three months until and through liver transplantation, after which they will restart the protocol at three months, or one month after post-transplant steroids are weaned to their lowest level. After they are one year post-transplant, they will no longer participate in continuous glucose monitoring or oral glucose tolerance testing, but their care will be followed electronically to assess outcomes up to five years post-transplant.