Summary Background Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Progressive damage and decline in the number of podocytes often occur in the early stages of DN. Thus, nephrin as a podocyte-specific protein may be regarded as a potential biomarker of early detection of DN. The aim of this study is to determine whether urinary nephrin is an earlier marker in DN than microalbuminuria and to test the significance of urinary nephrin as a marker for early detection of DN. Methods Our cross-sectional study included 90 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), 30 patients with diagnosed DN and 60 patients without diagnosed DN. As a control group, we used 30 healthy subjects. All patients with T2DM were classified into three subgroups according to urinary microalbumin/creatinine ratio (UMCR): normoalbuminuric, microalbuminuric and macroalbuminuric patients. Nephrin in urine was measured by immunoenzyme assay, microalbumin with turbidimetric and creatinine with the photometric method. In blood sera, we measured a few standard biochemical parameters. Results Nephrinuria was found to be present in 100% of patients with T2DM and macroalbuminuria, in 88% with microalbuminuria, as well as 82% of patients with T2DM and normoalbuminuria. A concentration of urinary nephrin was significantly increased in all groups of subjects with T2DM compared to the control group (p<0.05). Nephrinuria correlated statistically negative with eGFR (r=-0.54). ROC analysis showed that nephrin has a total predicted probability of 96% in patients with DN. Conclusions Urinary nephrin is earlier, more specific and sensitive marker than microalbumin in early detection of DN.

Introduction: Podocyte injury has been reported as an early feature of DN therefore, the assessment of podocyte injury can be accomplished by estimation of podocalyxin in urine. This study aimed to estimate the urinary podocalyxin levels and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of this biomarker for early detection of DN.Materials and methods: A total of 90 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were included in this cross-sectional study. Sixty of them were without diagnosed DN, and 30 with diagnosed DN. A control group consisted of 30 healthy subjects. All patients with T2DM were divided into three subgroups according to urinary microalbumin/creatinine ratio (UM/CR): normoalbuminuric, microalbuminuric and macroalbuminuric patients. Urine samples, were used for measurement of podocalyxin by ELISA, creatinine and microalbumin. Fasting venous blood samples was collected for biochemical analyses.Results: The levels of urinary podocalyxin (u-PDX) were higher in patients with T2DM compared to control subjects and a statistically significant difference among studied subgroups regarding u-PDX was found (p < 0.05). Levels of u-PDX are increasing gradually with the degree of DN (p < 0.029). u-PDX levels were positively correlated with UM/CR (r =0.227, p=0.002). A cut-off level of 43.8 ng/ml u-PDX showed 73.3% sensitivity and 93.3% specificity to detect DN in early stage. A cut-off level of 30 mg/g UM/CR showed 41.5% sensitivity and 90% specifity in predicting DN. u-PDX was elevated in 48,2% of normoalbuminuric patients.Conclusion: Urinary podocalyxin be useful and more sensitive and specific marker in early detection of DN than microalbuminuria.

Lipoprotein(a) – Lp(a) – is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Indeed, individuals with plasma concentrations of Lp(a) > 200 mg/l carry an increased risk of developing CVD. Circulating levels of Lp(a) are remarkably resistant to common lipid lowering therapies, currently available treatment for reduction of Lp(a) is plasma apheresis, which is costly and labour intensive. The Lp(a) molecule is composed of two parts: LDL/apoB-100 core and glycoprotein, apolipoprotein(a) – Apo(a), both of them can interact with components of the coagulation cascade, inflammatory pathways and blood vessel cells (smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells). Therefore, it is very important to determine the molecular pathways by which Lp(a) affect the vascular system in order to design therapeutics for targeting the Lp(a) cellular effects. This paper summarises the cellular effects and molecular mechanisms by which Lp(a) participate in atherogenesis, thrombogenesis, inflammation and development of cardiovascular diseases.

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Introduction: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is characterized by new-onset hypertension and proteinuria. Damage of podocyte cells has been reported in pre-eclamptic women, thus podocyte specific proteins such as nephrin and podocalyxin could be useful biomarkers in PE. Aim: To investigate the role of urinary nephrin (u-nephrin) and urinary podocalyxin (u-PDX) levels in predicting PE in women with a high-risk pregnancy. Materials and methods: We included 101 pregnant women in this study and allocated them into three groups: group 1 included pregnant women at high risk of developing PE (n=41), group 2 - pregnant women with PE (n=30), and group 3 was the controls including healthy pregnant women (n=30). The inclusion criteria for women with PE were de novo hypertension >140/90 mm Hg, proteinuria >300 mg/24 hours, and presence of edema after 20 weeks of gestation, while the exclusion criteria were a history of renal diseases and pregnant women younger than 18. Inclusion criteria for the group of women with a high-risk pregnancy was gestational week >15, a history of PE in a previous pregnancy, pre-existing diabetes type 1 or 2, pre-existing hypertension, multiple gestations, prior placental abruption, obesity women, nulliparity, maternal age >35 years, and a family history of PE. The study was conducted from March 2016 to May 2017 in the Medical Faculty at the Institute of Medical and Experimental Biochemistry in Skopje. Urine samples were used to measure the nephrin and podocalyxin levels using immunoenzyme assay, creatinine and microalbumin. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analyses. Results: U-nephrin levels were elevated in 96.7% of women with PE, and 73% of women with a high-risk pregnancy. U-PDX levels were elevated in 63% of the women with PE and 100% of the women with a high-risk pregnancy. U-nephrin and u-PDX levels were significantly increased in women with a high-risk pregnancy and women with PE compared with a control group (p<0.001). A significant difference was found between the subgroups of pregnant women classified according to gestational age in their u-nephrin and u-PDX levels. There was a significant positive correlation between the levels of both markers and glomerular filtration rate, and significant negative correlation between the levels of both markers and gestational age. ROC analysis revealed that the cut-off value of 304.6 ng/ml of u-nephrin had a sensitivity (Se) of 96.7%, specificity (Sp) of 96.7% (for both Se and Sp 95% confidence interval (CI) 82.8-99.9), while the cut-off value of 59.5 ng/ml of u-PDX had a sensitivity of 100% and Sp of 93.3% (Se - 95% CI 88.4-100, Sp - 95% CI 77.9-99.2), in distinguishing women with PE and healthy pregnancies. Both markers showed excellent clinical utility (CUI&ge;0.81), for u-nephrin (CUI+ and CUI&minus; is 0.934), for u-PDX (CUI+ is 0.938; CUI&minus; is 0.933). Conclusions: U-nephrin and U-PDX levels could be useful as predictors of PE in women with a high-risk pregnancy.