Kidney oxygenation, perfusion and blood flow in people with and without type 1 diabetes

Background We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study kidney energetics in persons with and without type 1 diabetes (T1D). Methods In a cross-sectional study, 15 persons with T1D and albuminuria and 15 non-diabetic controls (CONs) underwent multiparametric MRI (3 Tesla Philips Scanner) to quantify renal cortical and medullary oxygenation (R2*, higher values correspond to higher deoxyhaemoglobin concentration), renal perfusion (arterial spin labelling) and renal artery blood flow (phase contrast). Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, plasma haemoglobin, body mass index and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Results Participants with T1D had a higher median (Q1; Q3) urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) than CONs [46 (21; 58) versus 4 (3; 6) mg/g; P