Successful transfer from insulin to oral sulfonylurea in a 3-year-old girl with a mutation in the KCNJ11 gene

Neonatal diabetes mellitus is considered a rare disease that is diagnosed in the first six months of life, and can be either transient or permanent. Recent advances in molecular genetics have shown that activating mutations in KCNJ11 (the gene that encodes for the Kir6.2 subunit of the K(ATP) potassium channel of the pancreatic β-cell) is a common cause of permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus. Patients with mutations in this gene may respond to oral sulfonyureas. We describe a 3-year-old girl with permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus with a mutation in the KCNJ11 gene (R201H), who was successfully transferred from subcutaneous insulin to oral glibenclamide, with a marked improvement in glycemic control. This is the first successful switch from insulin to oral sulfonylurea in a patient with R201H mutation, in the Arabian Gulf.