Genetics and Epigenetics of Diabetic Nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the USA and worldwide, contributing to significant morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. A genetic factor for the development of DN is strongly implicated, as only one third of diabetic patients eventually develop kidney disease. Growing evidence also supports an important role of epigenetic modifications in DN.

Multiple studies have been performed to identify risk genes and loci associated with DN. So far, only several genes and loci have been identified, none of which showed a strong association with DN. Therefore, a better study design with a larger sample size to identify rare variants and a clinically defined patient population to identify genes and loci associated with progressive DN are still needed. In addition to genetic factors, epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs, also play a major role in the pathogenesis of DN through a second layer of gene regulation. Although a major progress has been made in this field, epigenetic studies in DN are still in the early phase and have been limited mostly due to the heterogeneity of kidney tissue samples with multiple cells. However, rapid development of high-throughput genome-wide techniques will help us to better identify genetic variants and epigenetic changes in DN.

Understanding of genetic and epigenetic changes in DN is needed for the development of new biomarkers and better drug targets against DN. Summarized in this review are important recent findings on genetic and epigenetic studies in the field of DN.