Abstract

TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-?ETA 1 AN EARLY PREDICTOR OF DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY

Mehwish Subhan*, Shabana Usman Simjee and Saiyid Ali Jaffar Naqvi

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The common complication of diabetes is nephropathy which is a leading cause of renal failure in one third of patients undergoing dialysis. Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) plays a crucial role in the progression of diabetic nephropathy. The present study aimed to evaluate if serum TGF-β1concentrations has any diagnostic role in predicting the incidence of diabetic nephropathy in the Pakistani patients before nephropathy starts. Patients and Methods: The study was performed on 140 subjects including normal, type 2 diabetes patients with and without proteinuria, and type 1 diabetes patients without proteinuria. Serum level of TGF-β1 was estimated by ELISA technique. Results: The mean serum level of TGF-β1estimated in the normal subjects was 507.28 ± 33.52 pg/mL. In comparison to normal, the TGF-β1 in type 2 diabetes with or without proteinuria and type 1 samples was significantly found to be elevated i.e., 1869.65 ± 238.59 pg/mL (P < 0.002), 1899.20 ± 211.03 pg/mL (P < 0.001), and 2866.91 ± 460.56 pg/mL (P < 0.001) respectively. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between type 2 diabetes with and without proteinuria, however, the type 1 diabetes samples reflect significant difference from type 2 samples with (P < 0.03) and without proteinuria (P < 0.04). Conclusion: Increased serum TGF-1 in diabetes samples with or without proteinuria suggest that it can serve as a predictive marker of diabetic nephropathy in diabetic patients before they suffer from chronic renal failure or diabetic nephropathy.

Keywords: ACE inhibitors, diabetic nephropathy, diabetes mellitus, microalbuminuria, proteinuria, TGF-?1.