title: Serum TGF-β1 as a Biomarker for Type 2 Diabetic Nephropathy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Abnormal expression of serum TGF-β1 was found in patients with diabetic nephropathy. However, the association of TGF-β1 with the risk of diabetic nephropathy remains unknown. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether such an association exists.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched the Chinese VIP, Wangfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar databases for relevant studies and extracted all eligible data. Stata12 software was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine reports met our criteria and were used for data extraction. There were 264 patients and 227 healthy controls from qualified reports in this meta-analysis. The results suggested that serum TGF-β1 levels were significantly up-regulated in patients with diabetic nephropathy; the instrumental variable was 3.94 (95% confidence interval 3.20-4.68, p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Meta-analysis suggested that elevated serum TGF-β level in patients with diabetes is associated with a high risk of nephropathy. Further studies are required to validate these observations.
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mou
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Di-Yi
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Dan-Yang
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, City Road 548, Binjiang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, 310053, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Ru
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Shou
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, City Road 548, Binjiang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, 310053, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Department, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Ling
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000097:blood*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C508960:TGFB1 protein, human; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1