Usefulness of urinary tubule injury markers for predicting progression of renal dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria: The Fukuoka Diabetes Registry

Aims We prospectively investigated the association of urinary tubule injury markers with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods Urinary kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), liver-type fatty-acid-binding protein (L-FABP), and urinary albumin-to creatinine ratio (UACR) were measured in 2,685 participants with type 2 diabetes. Renal outcomes were ≥ 30% decline in eGFR from the baseline and annual eGFR decline for 5 years. Results In normoalbuminuric participants, no tubular markers were associated with ≥ 30% decline in eGFR or annual eGFR changes. In those with UACR ≥ 30 mg/gCr, hazard ratios for ≥ 30% eGFR decline were 1.37 (95% confident interval (CI) 1.07–1.75) for urinary KIM-1 (>1.5 µg/gCr), 1.46 (95% CI 1.13–1.66) for urinary NGAL (>16.4 µg/gCr), and 1.26 (95% CI 0.94–1.66) for urinary L-FABP (>12.5 µg/gCr), 2.61 (95% CI 1.64–4.17) for the combination of 3 tubular markers above the cutoff after multivariable adjustments including UACR and eGFR. Conclusions The current study demonstrated that urinary tubule injury markers and their combination were significant predictors for the future eGFR decline in those with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria independently of UACR and eGFR. Urinary tubular markers may be useful to identify high-risk patients with albuminuria.