No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Background/Aims: The diagnosis of type 2 diabetic nephropathy (T2DN) patients is important to prevent the long-term damaging effects of kidney loss in patients with diabetes and is decisive for patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore urine retinol binding protein (RBP) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in T2DN patients with and without albuminuria. Methods: A total of 293 T2DN patients were divided into three groups according to their urine albumin/urine creatinine ratio (UACR): normoalbuminuria group (UACR<30 mg/g, n=100), microalbuminuria group (UACR 30–300 mg/g, n=100) and macroalbuminuria group (UACR>300 mg/g, n=93); 50 non-diabetic subjects were recruited as the control group. The levels of urine RBP, NGAL, TNF-α and IL-18 in T2DN patients and non-diabetic subjects were measured using ELISA assays. Results: We first analyzed the clinical characteristics of the control and T2DN groups and found that urine NGAL, RBP, TNF-α and IL-18 levels were significantly increased and significantly correlated with the degree of albuminuria. In addition, univariate linear regression analysis showed that urine RBP was associated with UACR, BMI, Scr, BUN, TG, disease duration, SBP, NGAL, TNF-α and IL-18 levels, and urine NGAL was positively correlated with UACR, Scr, BUN, RBP, TNF-α and IL-18 levels. Conclusion: The results indicate that urine levels of NGAL and RBP may be independently associated with albuminuria in T2DN and may serve as novel biomarkers for the identification of T2DN.

No abstract

No abstract

Insulin secretion is essential for maintenance of glucose homeostasis. An important intracellular signal regulating insulin secretion is cAMP. In this report, we showed that an increase of cAMP induced by adenylyl cyclase (AC) activator forskolin or by cAMP analog db-cAMP not only potentiated insulin secretion but also inhibited Kv channels, and these effects were reversed by AC inhibitor SQ22536. The cAMP-mediated Kv channel inhibition resulted in prolongation of action potential duration, which partly accounts for the elevation of intracellular Ca 2C induced by activation of cAMP signaling. Taken together, the results suggest that Kv channels are involved in cAMP-potentiated insulin secretion in pancreatic b cells.

No abstract