Journal Information
Journal ID (publisher-id): BM
Journal ID (nlm-ta): Biochem Med (Zagreb)
Title: Biochemia Medica
Abbreviated Title: Biochem. Med. (Zagreb)
ISSN (print): 1330-0962
ISSN (electronic): 1846-7482
Publisher: Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Article Information
Copyright statement: Copyright Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Copyright: 2024, Copyright Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/):
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Date received: 19 January 2024
Date accepted: 18 April 2024
Publication date: 15 June 2024
Publication date: 15 June 2024
Volume: 34
Issue: 2
Electronic Location Identifier: 020709
Publisher ID: bm-34-2-020709
DOI: 10.11613/BM.2024.020709
Is the urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin concentration in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus different from that in healthy children?
Ivan Šamija[3]
Adriana Unić[4]
Marijana Miler[4]
[1] Department of Pediatrics, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia
[2] Catholic University of Croatia, School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
[3] Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia
[4] Department of Clinical Chemistry, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia
Author notes:
[*] Corresponding author: bvmoric@hotmail.com
Author contributions
B. Valent Morić: conceptualization, data curation, methodology, project administration, writing original draft. I. Šamija: formal analysis, methodology, writing – review & editing. L. La Grasta Sabolić: conceptualization, data curation, writing – review & editing. A. Unić: investigation, validation, writing – review & editing. M. Miler: formal analysis, investigation, validation, writing – review & editing.
• No significant difference in urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin between type 1 diabetic children and healthy subjects was found
• There was no correlation between urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and albuminuria
• uNGAL is not recommended as a marker for detecting diabetic kidney disease in children and adolescents
Introduction
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the major microvascular complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Some studies suggest that changes of renal tubular components emerge before the glomerular lesions thus introducing the concept of diabetic tubulopathy with urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) as a potential marker of DKD. This concept was not confirmed in all studies.
Materials and methods
In 198 T1DM patients with median age 15 years and diabetes duration over one year, an albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) was determined and uNGAL measured in spot urine sample. Urine samples for ACR and uNGAL were also collected in the control group of 100 healthy children of similar age.
Results
There was no significant difference in uNGAL concentration or uNGAL/creatinine between T1DM children and healthy subjects (6.9 (2.8-20.1) ng/mL vs 7.9 (2.9-21.0) ng/mL, P = 0.969 and 6.8 (2.2-18.4) ng/mg vs 6.5 (1.9-13.4) ng/mg, P = 0.448, respectively) or between T1DM subjects with albuminuria A2 and albuminuria A1 (P = 0.573 and 0.595, respectively). Among T1DM patients 168 (85%) had normal uNGAL concentrations, while in 30 (15%) patients uNGAL was above the defined cut-off value of 30.9 ng/mL. There was no difference in BMI, HbA1c and diabetes duration between patients with elevated uNGAL compared to those with normal uNGAL.
Conclusions
We found no significant difference in uNGAL concentration or uNGAL/creatinine between T1DM children and healthy subjects or between albuminuria A2 and albuminuria A1 T1DM subjects. Therefore, uNGAL should not be recommended as a single marker for detecting diabetic kidney disease in children and adolescents.
Keywords: urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL); type 1 diabetes mellitus; albuminuria; diabetic kidney disease; children
