Biomedical Research

Objective: To study role of HIF-1α in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Methods: This study selected a total of 133 participants including 61 patients with type 2 diabetes but no nephropathy, 49 patients with diabetic nephropathy and 23 healthy individuals as a control at Anhui provincial hospital during January 2012 to December 2016. Nephropathy was identified according to historical estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Parameters such as Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Urine Albumin Creatinine Ratio (UACR) were also tested and recorded. Biopsy assessment was conducted when renal function or urinary abnormalities was inconsistent with the clinical expression or the natural history of DN. Western blotting was used to test the expression of serum HIF-1α in all patients and the control.

Results: Values of FBS, BUN and UACR were all significantly higher in DN and diabetes groups compared with the healthy control. Meanwhile, values of FBG, BUN and UACR were also all significantly higher in DN patients compared with the diabetes patients with no nephropathy. eGFR in DN patients was significantly lower than other two groups. No obvious lesion was observed in the diabetes patients with no nephropathy. However in DN patients, pathological changes were obvious in tubulointerstitia. In DN patients, expression of HIF-1α was significantly higher than both diabetes patients with no nephropathy and the healthy control, P<0.05. Patients with large amount of albuminuria showed highest expression of HIF-1α compared with other groups. However, HIF-1α in normo-albuminuria and micro-albuminuria groups showed no significant difference.

Conclusion: HIF-1α was up-regulated in patients with diabetic nephropathy. This study may give clinical basis to the role of HIF-1α in development of diabetic nephropathy. However, further studies are still needed to make deeper insights to illuminate HIF-1α in DN patients.

Author(s): Jumei Wang, Shandong Ye
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