Application value of serum FFA, Hcy and Cys-C levels in diagnosing diabetic nephropathy at early stage

Objective To establish the relationship between indexes of serum free fatty acids(FFA), homocysteine(Hcy) and Cystatin-C(Cys-C) levels with Type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) at each stage, and to determine their application values. Methods One hundred and fifty T2 DM patients were selected and divided into three groups according to the levels of urinary albumin excretion rates(UAER): simple diabetic mellitus group(SDM group, n=54), early diabetic nephropathy group(EDN group, n=56), clinical diabetes nephropathy group(CDN group, n=40).Forty-two healthy subjects of the same period determined by physical examination were enrolled as the control group.FFA, Hcy and Cys-C and other indexes in serum were determined for all subjects. T-test and variance analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were applied to make statistical analysis of all indexes. Results Serum FFA, Hcy, Cys C levels in CDN group and EDN group were significantly higher than SDM group and the control group(P0.05), and the levels from high to low was CDN group, EDN group, SDM group, the control group, with statistically significant difference between any two groups(P0.05). In T2 DM patients, the FFA, Hcy, Cys C levels were found positively correlated with UAER(r=0.718, 0.417, 0.361; P0.05). Conclusion The FFA, Hcy and Cys C levels of T2 DM patients are related with the development process of diabetic nephropathy. Joint detection of all indexes has significant clinical application value in the early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy.