Microalbuminuria, Urine NAG and α1-microglobin Test for Early Diagnosis of Diabetic Nephropathy

Diabetic Nephropathy is disease of the kidneys caused by Diabetes. Diabetes is described by many as a “silent killer”. Controlling the blood sugar is a tough job for Diabetics, and if their illness is poorly controlled, many complications may come up. For Diabetics, regular screening tests are important in detecting early stage of complications and improving long-term prognosis. Diabetic Nephropathy, the top leading cause of end-stage kidney disease in clinic, is one of the concerned health hazards for people with Diabetes. We focus on introducing three major tests for early diagnosis of Diabetic kidney disease in this passage.

Who should be tested for Diabetic Nephropathy?

It is generally suggested that Type 2 Diabetics should be tested for Diabetic Nephropathy at initial diagnosis of Diabetes, and Type 1 Diabetics do yearly test starting from five years after Diabetes diagnosis. In this way it is expected to find kidney damage at the very initial stage even before any symptoms occur. Screening tests are even essential if you have any of the risk factors:

Cigarette addiction. Cigarettes are harmful for the kidneys. Those who have been addicted to cigarettes may experience an onset of kidney disease as composed to others who don’t smoke.

High blood pressure. The damage of hypertension is even more dangerous than high blood glucose in Diabetics. Rising levels of blood pressure often indicates worsening of the illness condition in Diabetics.

Diabetic retinopathy. In Diabetics, fundus damage often goes hand in hand with deterioration of the kidneys.

Microalbuminuria, urine NAG, and urine α1-microglobin test for early diagnosis of Diabetic Nephropathy

Microalbuminuria, urine NAG and urine α1-microglobin will detect early kidney damage caused by Diabetes.

Microalbuminuria refers to slight elevation of albumin in urine. Renal glomerular cells called as glomeruli will filtrate bloodstream and stops proteins from leaking out into urine. Diabetes with its persistent high blood sugar can impair glomerular filtering holes and leads to an excess loss of proteins in urine. In initial stage of Diabetic Nephropathy, glomerular cells are slightly damaged and there may be slight elevation of albumin in urine. However, if the patients do a routine proteinuria test, they will not find out their disease because proteinuria test only reflects loss of proteins for over 0.5g within 24h. Microalbuminuria, in comparison, will indentify an elevated level of proteins within 30-300mg/24h. In Diabetic Nephropathy, microalbuminuria stage may be reversible by strict blood sugar and blood pressure treatment. Clinical proteinuria stage is a more serious stage which follows microalbuminuria.

Urine NAG and urine α1-microglobin are performed together with microalbuminuria for a more exact diagnosis of Diabetic Nephropathy. Urine NAG indentifies inflammatory damage to renal tubular epithelial cells, and urine α1-microglobin combined with microalbuminuria to confirm early glomerular cell damage. By those tests Diabetic Nephropathy can be diagnosed at an earlier stage and by early treatment the patients get a good prognosis in comparison to later cases.