| Objective:To study the changes of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL)and cystatin C(CysC)
levels in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), and their value of diagnosis for early DN.Methods:A total of 160 patients with
diabetes mellitus(DM) were selected and divided into before DN group(group A, n=58), early DN group (group B, n=52) and clinical DN
group (group C, n=50) according to the different levels of urinary albumin excretion rates(UAER), in the same period, 61 healthy persons
were chosen as control group (group D). The levels of serum NGAL, CysC, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (CREA), and
urinary microalbumin (UMA) in the four groups were compared; the correlation of serum NGAL and CysC with UMA was analyzed.Results:The levels of serum NGAL, CysC, and UMA in group A, B and C were significantly higher than that in group D, and the levels
of the above indexes in group C were higher than those in group B, the levels of the above indexes in group B were higher than those in
group A, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The levels of BUN and CREA in group C were significantly higher than
those in group A, B and D, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference among group A,
B and D (P>0.05). The levels of serum NGAL and CysC were positively correlated with the levels of UMA (r=0.59, 0.64; P<0.05).Conclusion:The levels of serum NGAL and CysC significantly increase in the patients with early DN and are positively correlated with
the levels of UMA, which can be used as the sensitive biomarkers for evaluating the degree of renal damage and diagnosis of early DN
and is worthy of clinical application. |
