Is serum vasohibin 1 level associated with the development of kidney disease in diabetic patients?

Abstract Background: Glomerular filtration surface area and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are increased in patients with diabetic nephropathy. Glomerular neoangiogenesis contributes to this increased GFR. Vasohibin-1 is an inhibitor of neoangiogenesis. The aim of this study is to evaluate serum vasohibin-1 levels of diabetic patients with and without diabetic kidney disease (DKD).Methods: One hundred and five diabetic patients and 35 healthy controls matched for age and gender were included in the study. Diabetic patients with eGFR<60 ml/min/1,73m2 and/or those who had persistent proteinuria (>200 mg/gr) measured by urine protein/creatinine ratio (UP/C) were diagnosed as DKD if they haven’t any other known kidney diseases or findings suggested another kidney disease. Serum creatinine, eGFR, UP/C and vasohibin-1 levels were recorded.Results: Thirty-four percent of diabetic patients had DKD. Systolic blood pressure and UP/C were higher in diabetic patients than healthy controls and age, sex, eGFR were similar. Diabetic patients have slightly lower but statistically non-significant serum vasohibin-1 levels than healthy controls. Patients with DKD had higher UP/C, lower eGFR and long-standing diabetes compared to diabetic patients without kidney disease. Serum vasohibin-1 levels were similar between patients with DKD and those without DKD. There was no correlation between serum vasohibin-1 levels and eGFR or UP/C.Conclusions: For the first time we showed that diabetic patients have slightly lower vasohibin-1 levels than healthy subjects but there was no difference between diabetic patients with and without kidney disease in terms of serum vasohibin levels. Because, vasohibin-1 exhibits its anti-angiogenetic properties by acting via autocrine-paracrine pathways; local vasohibin activity at the tissue level may be more important than the circulating levels.