Arindam Ghosh, Aritri Bir
BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is frequently associated with an increased inflammatory state. However, the relationship between of low grade inflammation and diabetic nephropathy still remains unclear with conflicting results. We therefore intended to analyse the inter-relationships between pro inflammatory cytokines and renal functions with respect to the glycemic status in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS 89 type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients and 26 age matched healthy controls were studied (29 normoalbuminuric, 33 microalbuminuric and 27 proteinuric) and their levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF α) were measured and correlated with albuminuria and glycosylated haemoglobin. RESULTS Urinary albumin excretion showed positive correlation with the levels of Interleukin-6 (r=0.711 P <0.001), as well as Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha (r=0.591; P < 0.005) in the diabetics. The glycosylated haemoglobin had a positive correlation with Il-6 (r=0.792, P <0.001) and Urinary albumin excretion rate (r=0.685, P < 0.001) and mild positive correlation with TNF-α (r= 0.589, P <0.005). There was no such correlation observed among control subjects. CONCLUSION The study shows that pro inflammatory cytokines levels are elevated in early diabetic nephropathy and are independently associated with urinary albumin excretion thus it can be hypothesized that their local release play a role in the renal damage in the development of renal damage.
