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Abstract: TH-PO190

Urinary Podocyte Stress Marker as a Prognostic Indicator for Diabetic Kidney Disease

Session Information

Category: Diabetic Kidney Disease

  • 702 Diabetic Kidney Disease: Clinical

Author

  • Zeng, Lingfeng, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Background

Diabetic kidney diseases (DKD) is a the most common cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) around the world. Previous studies suggest that urinary podocyte stress biomarker, e.g. podocin:nephrin mRNA ratio, is a surrogate marker of podocyte injury in non-diabetic kidney diseases.

Methods

We studied 118 patients with biopsy-proved DKD and 13 non-diabetic controls. Their urinary mRNA levels of nephrin, podocin, and aquaporin-2 (AQP2) were quantified. Renal events, defined as death, dialysis, or 40% reduction in glomerular filtration rate, were determined at 12 months.

Results

Urinary podocin:nephrin mRNA ratio of DKD was significantly higher than the control group (p=0.0019), while urinary nephrin:AQP2 or podocin:AQP2 ratios were not different between groups. In DKD, urinary podocin:nephrin mRNA ratio correlated with the severity of tubulointerstitial fibrosis (r = 0.254, p = 0.006). and was associated with the renal event-free survival in 12 months (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.523; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.157-2.006; p = 0.003). After adjusting for clinical and pathological factors, urinary podocin:nephrin mRNA ratio have a trend to predict renal event-free survival (adjusted HR, 1.327; 95%CI 0.980-1.797; p = 0.067), but the result did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion

Urinary podocin:nephrin mRNA ratio has a marginal prognostic value in biopsy-proven DKD. Further validation is required for DKD patients without kidney biopsy.

Funding

  • Government Support – Non-U.S.