Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 16, 2022; 10(23): 8205-8211
Published online Aug 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i23.8205
Role of serum β2-microglobulin, glycosylated hemoglobin, and vascular endothelial growth factor levels in diabetic nephropathy
Bing Yang, Xiao-Hong Zhao, Guo-Bin Ma
Bing Yang, Xiao-Hong Zhao, Guo-Bin Ma, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 3201 Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Hanzhong 723099, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: Yang B contributed to conceptualization, data analysis, and writing; Zhao XH contributed to data analysis and writing; Ma GB revised the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the 3201 Hospital Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all study participants or their legal guardians prior to enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings of this study can be found within the article.
STROBE statement: The manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bing Yang, MM, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 3201 Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, No. 783 Tianhan Avenue, Hanzhong 723099, Shaanxi Province, China. ybing3201@163.com
Received: May 6, 2022
Peer-review started: May 6, 2022
First decision: June 7, 2022
Revised: June 18, 2022
Accepted: July 6, 2022
Article in press: July 6, 2022
Published online: August 16, 2022
Processing time: 86 Days and 22.7 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common complication of diabetes and is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease. Many identified biomarkers related to DN have been reported in previous studies, but none have been tested at bedside or in clinical trials. Moreover, their validation in larger patient cohorts and longitudinal studies are lacking.

Research motivation

Recent studies have demonstrated that inflammatory reactions and vascular endothelial cell damage are important factors in the pathogenesis of DN. The early detection of changes in renal function is of great benefit for the treatment of DN. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the significance of serum β2 microglobulin (β2-MG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in DN.

Research objectives

The objective of this study was to determine whether the expression levels of serum β2-MG, HbA1c, and VEGF are associated with DN.

Research methods

A total of 107 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated by nephropathy were included in the study, and 107 healthy individuals as well as 107 patients with simple diabetes mellitus were selected as the control groups. Changes in β2-MG, HbA1c, and VEGF levels in the three groups and the different proteinuria groups of the disease group were examined.

Research results

The expression levels of these factors were evaluated in different groups by pairwise comparison. Changes in β2-MG, HbA1c, and VEGF levels in the different disease groups were significantly different. By pairwise comparison, changes in β2-MG, HbA1c, and VEGF levels, from high to low, were noted in the massive proteinuria, microproteinuria, and normal urinary protein groups. Changes in these factors were positively correlated with disease progression.

Research conclusions

The expression of serum β2-MG, HbA1c, and VEGF are closely correlated with DN progression, and the progression of the disease can be evaluated by the expression of these factors in patients in the future.

Research perspectives

Diabetic kidney disease is a major health care challenge that complicates the course of many people living with diabetes. The current study showed that the 22 studied biomarkers had different levels of diagnostic accuracy, ranging from excellent to very good to good, and specificity values. The combined diagnosis of multiple biomarkers may improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of DN. In the future, optimization of biomarkers for clinical situations requires prospective validation in many patients with diabetic nephropathy, and needs to be performed in different critically ill populations.