[Urinary excretion and renal clearance of several specific plasma proteins in diabetics]

The 24-h urine excretion and renal clearance of albumin, alpha I-acid glycoprotein, transferrin, IgG, IgA and haptoglobin were studied in 30 albustix-negative diabetics with no clinical data for diabetic nephropathy aiming at the precise characterization of proteinuria in patients with diabetes mellitus. The diabetic patients were divided into two groups - 15 patients with newly diagnosed diabetes and 15 - with a longer duration of diabetes. Thirteen healthy subjects, at the same mean age, served as a control group. The results reveal increase of the clearances and 24-h excretion of the proteins studied in the patients with diabetes mellitus, in those with a short duration of the disease including, with authentic difference for albumin, transferrin, IgG and haptoglobin among the patients with a longer duration of the disease and the healthy controls and authentic difference for albumin between those with the newly diagnosed diabetes and the healthy control. The possible prognostic significance of the indices studied is discussed as well as their importance for the early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy.