Recent advances in pharmacotherapy for diabetic nephropathy: current perspectives and future directions

Chronic diabetes mellitus is associated with various complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, cardiomyopathy, vasculopathy, dermatopathy and encephalopathy. Nephropathy is one of the major complications of diabetes mellitus, and the morbidity and mortality due to diabetic nephropathy is constantly progressing in industrialized nations. No satisfactory therapeutic option is currently available to treat patients with nephropathy except for fewer agents like angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin AT(1) receptor blockers and few antioxidants, which have been shown to improve the function of diabetic kidney to some extent. Thus, tremendous efforts are being made to explore promising therapeutic interventions to treat diabetic nephropathy. This review discussed various presently employed and recently developed pharmacological interventions to treat diabetic nephropathy and to improve the function of diabetic kidney. In addition, the recently identified potential target sites involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy have been delineated.