[Plasma beta 2-microglobulin in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus]

The authors measured plasmatic beta 2-microglobulin in 42 type II diabetes patients, whose 23 microalbuminuria (group A) and 19 normal albuminuria (group B), and in 20 healthy control subjects (group C) comparable for sex and age. Beforehand, everybody was subject to diagnostic verification to exclude other simultaneous diseases. The glomerular filtration rate, measured by creatinine clearance did not show statistical significance between three groups as well as duration of diabetes and levels of glycosylated hemoglobin between group A and B. Plasmatic beta 2-microglobulin was 3.16 +/- 0.9, 2.1 +/- 0.6, 2.0 +/- 0.9 mg/L respectively in the groups A, B and C (p < 0.001 A vs B and A vs C). The authors think in type II diabetic subjects with microalbuminuria can be an early and mild decrease of FGR. The measurement of plasmatic beta 2-microglobulin rather than creatinine clearance could be a suitable method to show it.