Urinary Vitamin D Binding Protein: A Marker of Kidney Tubular Dysfunction in Patients at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Recent studies have reported elevated urinary vitamin D binding protein (uVDBP) concentrations in patients with diabetic kidney disease, although the utility of uVDBP to predict deterioration of kidney function over time has not been examined.

Our objective was to assess the association of uVDBP with longitudinal changes in kidney function.

Adults at-risk for type 2 diabetes from the Prospective Metabolism and Islet Cell Evaluation (PROMISE) study had 3 assessments over 6 years (n = 727). Urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were used as measures of kidney function. Measurements of uVDBP were performed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and normalized to urine creatinine (uVDBP:cr). Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) evaluated longitudinal associations of uVDBP and uVDBP:cr with measures of kidney function, adjusting for covariates.

Renal uVDBP loss increased with ACR severity at baseline. Individuals with normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria had median log uVDBP:cr concentrations of 1.62 μg/mmol, 2.63 μg/mmol, and 2.48 μg/mmol, respectively, and ACR positively correlated with uVDBP concentrations (r = 0.37; P < .001). There was no significant association between uVDBP and eGFR at baseline. Adjusted longitudinal GEE models indicated that each SD increase both in baseline and longitudinal uVDBP:cr was significantly associated with higher ACR over 6 years (β = 30.67 and β = 32.91, respectively). Conversely, neither baseline nor longitudinal uVDBP:cr measures showed a significant association with changes in eGFR over time. These results suggest that loss of uVDBP:cr over time may be a useful marker for predicting renal tubular damage in individuals at risk for diabetes.