[Urinary NAG activity and diabetic microangiopathy]

The behaviour of urinary NAG was monitored in diabetic patients some of whom presented more or less severe vascular alterations. The results showed a relationship between urinary NAG levels and the severity of the vascular condition (in fact the greatest NAG activity was found in patients with overt kidney damage). NAG may therefore reveal the existence of a vascular nephropathy that is still too slight to be identified by the standard non-invasive clinical examinations.