PMID- 29522788 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20190212 LR - 20190215 IS - 1872-8227 (Electronic) IS - 0168-8227 (Linking) VI - 147 DP - 2019 Jan TI - Urinary afamin levels are associated with the progression of diabetic nephropathy. PG - 37-46 LID - S0168-8227(17)31788-6 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.diabres.2018.02.034 [doi] AB - AIMS: In this study, we applied quantitative proteomic analysis to identify urinary proteins associated with diabetic nephropathy (DN). METHODS: Two-dimensional image-converted analysis of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry detected the proteins differentially excreted between normoalbuminuric and macroalbuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (n = 6 each). Urinary levels of excreted proteins were measured by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) analysis using an independent sample set (n = 77). Urinary afamin levels were measured by ELISA in T2DM and DN patients enrolled in this cohort study (n = 203). RESULTS: One-hundred-four proteins displayed significant alterations in excretion. Nine of these candidates were validated by MRM analysis. Among them, the levels of afamin, CD44 antigen, and lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein 2, which have not previously been implicated in DN, were significantly associated with both the urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) and eGFR. We further measured afamin levels in urine collected from T2DM patients who did not yet have significant kidney disease (ACR < 300 mg/g or eGFR change rate