Diagnostic value of the detection of urinary cystatin C and transferrin and the detection of urinary β_2-microglobulin and microalbuminuria to early diabetic nephropathy

Objective To explore the clinical value of the combination detection of urinary cystatin C and transferrin,and the combination detection of urinary β2-microglobulin(β2-MG) and microalbuminuria(mALB) to the diagnosis of early diabetic nephropathy.Methods A total of 238 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were divided into 2 groups according to the level of 24-hour urinary albumin(UAlb),118 cases in group A(mALB30 mg/24 h),and 120 cases in group B(mALB from 30 to 220 mg/24 h).Another 210 healthy subjects were as controls(group C).The levels of cystatin C,transferrin,β2-MG and mALB were respectively detected with ELISA technique to compare the diagnostic value of the detection of cystatin C and transferrin,and the detection of β2-MG and with mALB to the early diabetic nephropathy.Results The nonparametric analysis showed there was significant differences among the three groups(P0.01).AUC of the cystatin C(0.645) was smaller than that of the β2-MG(0.794),and AUC of transfferrin(0.783) was larger than that of mALB(0.768).The positive rate of cystatin C combined with transfferrin(60.9%) was significantly higher than that of β2-MG combined with mALB(51.3%),which showed a significant difference(P0.01).Conclusion Both of these two combination methods contribute to the diagnosis of early diabetic nephropathy.