Evaluation of early biomarkers of renal dysfunction in diabetic patients

To evaluate 2 renal tubular enzymes; urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL), and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (uNAG), and serum Cystatin C as candidate biomarkers for early diagnosis of early stage of diabetic nephropathy (DB) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

This cross-sectional study was carried out at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during the period between  May 2017 and May 2018 and was conducted on 86 patients with T2DM. Patients were classified according to their albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) into 3 groups; a normal albuminuria group with ACR less than 30 mg/g creatinine, a moderately increased albuminuria group with ACR: 30-299 mg/g creatinine, and a severely increased albuminuria group with ACR ≥300 mg/g.  Healthy adults were recruited as a control group. Urine uNGAL, uNAG, and serum Cystatin C were measured in all patients.

Compared with healthy control, diabetic patients with normal albuminuria excreted significantly higher levels of uNGAL (p less than 0.001). In addition, significantly elevated uNGAL, uNAG and cystatin C levels were observed in moderately increased albuminuria and severely increased albuminuria groups when compared to the control and normoalbuminuric groups (p less than 0.001). urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase and Cystatin C showed a positive correlation with fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c, duration of diabetes, urea, creatinine, and ACR.

Our results indicated that uNGAL could be a sensitive biomarker for early renal dysfunction in diabetic patients while uNAG and serum Cystatin C might have prognostic value.