Urine AQP5 is a potential novel biomarker of diabetic nephropathy.
To investigate if urinary AQP5 serves as a new potential biomarker of diabetic nephropathy.



Using an AQP5-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we measured serum and urine AQP5 first in a cohort consisting of normal controls (n=26) and patients with diabetes mellitus (n=25) or diabetic nephropathy (n=33) and then in a validation cohort possessing normal controls (n=10), patients with diabetes mellitus (n=10) or diabetic nephropathy (n=14), and patients with chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (n=10). We used various statistical methods including Pearson's correlation coefficient, ANOVA with Holm-Sidak test, Receiver Operator Curve, and multiple logistic regression to analyze the data.



Urine AQP5/creatinine 1) is significantly higher in diabetic nephropathy than in other two groups, and in diabetic nephropathy stage V than in stage III; 2) correlates with serum creatinine, urine albumin, and multiple other known risk factors of the disease; and 3) improves the clinical models in distinguishing diabetic nephropathy from normal controls and diabetic mellitus.



Our data suggest that urine AQP5/creatinine may possess diagnostic and prognostic values as a biomarker of diabetic nephropathy.
Department of Internal Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, PR China. Electronic address: luy6@mail.uc.edu.
Yiyang
Y
Lu
Epithelial Systems Biology Laboratory, Systems Biology Center, NHLBI, Bethesda, MD 20892-1603, USA.
Lihe
L
Chen
Department of Pathology and Laboratory medicine, The University of Texas, Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030.
Binhong
B
Zhao
Department of Internal Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, PR China.
Zhou
Z
Xiao
Department of Internal Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, PR China.
Ting
T
Meng
Department of Internal Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, PR China.
Qiaoling
Q
Zhou
Albany Medical College, MC-165, 47 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, New York 12208. Electronic address: zhangw1@mail.amc.edu.
Wenzheng
W
Zhang
D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D051402:Aquaporin 5 / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D051402:Aquaporin 5; D015415:Biomarkers; D003404:Creatinine; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C496036:AQP5 protein, human; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human
Diabetes; Gene expression; Kidney biopsy; Urinary biomarker; Water channels