Assessment Of Serum Fetuin-A Levels In Diabetic Nephropathy. A Case Control Study.

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is a most common vascular complication of Type 2 diabetes. Fetuin-A, after binding with Tyrosine kinase, acts as endogenous inhibitor of insulin receptor in diabetic subjects, causing insulin resistance (IR).

Aim and objective: This study was aimed to estimate the serum concentration of fetuin-A levels in the subjects having diabetic nephropathy and healthy controls. To determine cut off value of fetuin-A levels to prevent severity of renal damage in Diabetic Nephropathy subjects.

Methods: 30 subjects having diabetic nephropathy and 30 healthy controls (age group 35 to 65 years) were selected from the medicine OPD of S. N. Medical College and HSK Hospital, Bagalkot. Based on the presence of microalbuminuria and eGFR levels, 30 subjects of nephropathy secondary to diabetes were selected. Cases having other systemic illnesses like hypertension, thyroid disorders and cardiac disorders were excluded from the study. The serum fetuin-A levels were estimated by the ELISA method in the cases and controls. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 19, utilizing unpaired “t” test and Pearson’s correlation tests for quantitative data.

Results: The estimated serum fetuin-A levels in the cases were found to be higher as compared with control subjects and were found to be highly significant (p=0.001). We found the best cut-off value of serum fetuin-A was ≤ 36.66 ng/ml in the subjects having diabetic nephropathy. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.515 with a specificity of 75 % and sensitivity of 41%.

Conclusion: Serum fetuin-A levels were higher in cases compared to controls, which could be used as a diagnostic marker for the severity of renal damage with a cut-off value of ≤ 36.66 ng/ml and could be used to control the nephropathy secondary to the patients suffering with diabetes.

Categories: Diabetes