Association of microRNA-192, pentraxin-3, and transforming growth factor-beta1 with estimated glomerular filtration rate in adults with diabetic nephropathy

Objective Nephropathy is among the most pervasive complications of diabetes; it frequently results in end-stage renal disease and even death. However, current biomarkers for diabetic nephropathy (DN) have limited diagnostic utility. Thus, this present study aims to examine the associations of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with plasma concentrations of microRNA-192 (miR-192), pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) to identify biomarkers able to distinguish late-stage from early-stage DN. Methods In total, 50 healthy volunteers and 271 diabetes patients were enrolled in this study. Participants were stratified into seven groups according to eGFR and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), healthy controls, diabetes without DN (G1), diabetes with mild renal impairment (G2), and 4 DN grades (G3a, G3b, G4, and G5). Results DN groups exhibited increases in serum miR-192 ( p