Correlation of urinary monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1 with other parameters of renal injury in type-II diabetes mellitus

Abstract EN

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the western world.

Increased number of interstitial macrophages has been observed in biopsies from patients with DN.

Monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is the strongest known chemotactic factor for monocytes and is upregulated in DN.

We examined urinary levels of MCP-1 in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) to assess its possible correlation with other parameters of renal injury.

The urinary MCP-1 level was assessed in 75 patients with type-2 DM (25 patients each with no microalbuminuria, with macroalbuminuria and, with renal impairment) and compared them with matched healthy control subjects.

The HbA1c and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) derived from the abbreviated Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation were examined in the study groups in relation to the urinary MCP-1.

The urinary MCP-1 level was significantly higher in patients with micro and macroalbuminuria (167.41 ± 50.23 and 630.87 ± 318.10 ng / gm creatinine respectively) as compared with normoalbuminuric patients and healthy controls (63.85 ± 21.15 and 61.50 ± 24.81 ng / gm creatinine, p< 0.001).

MCP-1 correlated positively with urine albumin / creatinine ratio (ACR) (r= 0.75, p< 0.001), HbA1c (r= 0.55, p< 0.001) and inversely with eGFR (r=-0.60, p< 0.001).

Our findings suggest that hyperglycemia is associated with increased urinary levels of MCP-1 that is closely linked to renal damage as reflected by proteinuria and eGFR levels.

Collectively, these findings suggest that MCP-1 is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy through its various stages.