Renal biopsy in diabetic patients: clinical indicators and pathological findings

Abstract

Background: In addition to diabetic nephropathies (DNP), prevalence of nondiabetic nephropathies (NDNP) is also known to be frequent in patients diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes mellitus (DM). Early diagnosis of these conditions is important for the treatment and prognosis of these patients. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between clinical and laboratory findings of type 2 diabetic patients’ renal biopsies. Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 140 patients who had diagnosis of type 2 DM and underwent renal biopsy from July 2020- August 2022 at nephrology clinics of Hospital Umraniye. Renal biopsy results, presence of hypertension, diabetic retinopathy, hematuria, proteinuria; duration of the disease, biopsy indications, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, albumin, and proteinuria levels in 24h urine were measured. The statistical significance level was determined as p<0,05. Results: NDNP were detected in 43,7% of the patients. Among these the most common diagnosis was interstitial nephritis (20%). The most common biopsy indication was found to be nephrotic range proteinuria (30,7%). The difference between the DNP and NDNP patients’ renal biopsy indications was statistically significant (p<0,001). DNP patients had a higher retinopathy incidence (60%,11%, p<0,001). A statistically significant difference was detected between the disease duration of DNP and NDNP groups (11,23 +5,74 years, p:0,002). According to multivariate regression analysis DR and HbA1c value, more than 7% have 4, 482 and 4,591-fold increased the risk of DNP incidence (p=0,021, p:0,024). Conclusion: Early diagnosis of DNP and NDNP of diabetic patients by performing renal biopsies affects the treatment and prognosis of the patients. Therefore, when evaluating diabetic patients, its necessary not to overlook the findings suggestive of NDNP.