Clinical significance of serum type IV collagen in the patients with diabetic nephropathy

Objective To study the possible relationship between serum type Ⅳcollagen(CⅣ) and diabetic nephropathy(DN).Methods Serum CⅣ was determined by radioimmunoassay in 33 diabetic patients with normalbuminuria(A group), 32 cases of microalbuminuria(B group), 19 cases of macroalbuminuria(C group) and 45 normal subjects as control.Results The mean concentration of CⅣ in total 84 diabetic patients(105 48±18 09 μg/L) was higher than that of control(89 20±9 70 μg/L)(P0 01), especially in group B(106 46±18 59 μg/L) and C(120 90±15 54 μg/L) was remarkablely higher as comparable with control(P0 01,P0 001). There was significantly positive correlation between serum CⅣ level and diabetic duration,UAE,BUN,Cr, FBG.Conclusion Abnormal collagen metabolism exists in diabetic patients. The increased serum CⅣ level in diabetic patients is related to the severity of diabetic renal lesion and could be an early and sensitive marker of DN.