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Published:
Jul 22, 2020DOI:
10.4314/ahs.v20i2.37Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Elabela levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: can it be a marker for diabetic nephropathy?
Abstract
Backround: Elabela (ELA) is a hormone that is secreted at high levels in the kidneys of a healthy adult. This study aims to investigate whether serum ELA levels of patients with Type 2 Diabetes vary with the severity of renal damage.
Methods: Our study included 50 healthy control subjects and 100 diabetic patients, who were categorized into groups based on urine albumin/creatinine ratios (ACR). Patients included in the study were assigned to four groups: Group 1 (healthy control), Group 2 (ACR<29mg/g), Group 3 (ACR=30-299 mg/g), and Group 4 (ACR>300 mg/g normal or high serum creatinine). Physical examination findings, demographic characteristics of the study group were recorded, and serum ELA levels and other laboratory parameters were assessed using appropriate methods.
Results: The results of the study indicated that ELA levels determined in healthy individuals gradually decreased through stages of normal albuminuria, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria. Moreover, ELA had a significant negative corre- lation with LDL-C (r=-0.201, p=0.014), glucose (r=-0.437, P<0.001), retinopathy (r=-0.222, P=0.006), serum BUN (r=- 0.161, P=0.049), and a positive correlation with eGFR (r=0.250, P=0.002).
Conclusions: The fact that ELA levels are higher in healthy individuals compared to diabetic patients without microalbu- minuria, and higher in diabetic patients without microalbuminuria compared to patients with advanced albuminuria and kidney damage, suggests that the ELA level can be an important clinical prognostic variable and even a promising agent for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy patients.
Keywords: Elabela, diabetes, diabetic kidney disease, albuminuria.
