Study finds protein may offer risk markers for diabetic kidney disease – Edexlive

A 7- to 15-year longitudinal study of 358 diabetics found a link between 3 proteins in the blood and slower progression of diabetic kidney disease and progressive kidney failure.

Led by a team of researchers from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the findings suggest that protein could help researchers identify those diabetics at highest risk for kidney damage, potentially allowing for earlier interventions and treatment. Despite advances in blood sugar control and kidney therapies, patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes still face a high risk of diabetic kidney disease. This condition can eventually progress to end-stage kidney disease, but some patients have slower kidney decline than others.

In recent years, scientists have struggled to understand why some people progress more slowly and whether they might harbor proteins that protect the kidneys from the effects of diabetes. As part of the Joslin Kidney Study, Md Dom et al. followed two groups of patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and varying degrees of diabetic renal failure (358 in total) for 7 to 15 years.

By analyzing more than 1,000 proteins in patients’ plasma, the researchers found that patients who progressed slowly had higher amounts of ANGPT1, TNFSF12, and FGF20 proteins. The team confirmed this protective link in an independent group of 294 type 1 diabetics; they also found that FGF20 was elevated in healthy, non-diabetic parents of type 1 diabetics who did not have kidney complications. If validated in larger studies, this result “could have a profound implication in future research on the determinants of progressive renal decline. [type 1 diabetes]The authors said. However, they warn that more studies are needed to confirm a causal link between the 3 proteins and protection against diabetic kidney failure.