Urinary orosomucoid 1 protein to creatinine ratio as a potential biomarker for early screening of kidney impairment in type-2 diabetes patients.

BACKGROUND: Early screening of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) remains a major challenge. Our aim was to evaluate the value of urinary orosomucoid 1 protein (UORM1) in early renal impairment screening in type-2 diabetes patients. METHODS: The concentration of UORM1, the UORM1-to-creatinine ratio (UORM1CR), the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), the alpha-1-microglobulin-to-creatinine ratio (A1MCR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were measured in 406 type-2 diabetes patients. Any positive values for ACR, A1MCR and/or eGFR were considered as indicative of renal impairment. RESULTS: On average, the levels of UORM1 and UORM1CR were about seven times higher in subjects with renal injury than in those without. Both UORM1 and UORM1CR, when adjusted via logarithm-transformation, were significantly related to ACR, A1MCR and eGFR levels. The highest correlation was observed between UORM1CR and A1MCR (r = 0.85, P 3.69 mg/g) has the high diagnostic efficiency for the early screening of renal impairment in type-2 diabetes patients. Furthermore, good glycaemic control and high HDL-C might be protective factors against UORM1CR increase.