Relationship between plasma levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in diabetic nephropathy

Claire Gabriella Dias; Lakshmaiah Venkatswamy; Sharath Balakrishna

Claire Gabriella Dias Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar, India
Lakshmaiah Venkatswamy Department of General Medicine, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar, India
Sharath Balakrishna Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar, India

Keywords: Type II diabetes, nephropathy, soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products, tumour necrosis factor

Abstract

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common microvascular complication of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) involving inflammatory kidney damage. Excessive signaling via the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) plays an important role in mediating renal inflammation. A soluble form of RAGE (sRAGE) is an important regulator of the RAGE signaling pathway. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between sRAGE and TNF-alpha in DN. A comparative study was carried out comprising three groups (Control group, T2DM group, and DN group). There were 35 participants in each group. The study participants’ plasma levels of sRAGE and TNF-alpha were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Plasma levels of TNF-alpha were significantly higher in T2DM and DN compared to control (P<0.0001). Also, plasma levels of sRAGE were significantly lower in T2DM and DN compared to control (P<0.0001). Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between sRAGE and TNF-alpha levels in T2DM (r=-0.3; P<0.05) and also DN (r=-0.37; P<0.001). These results indicate that sRAGE impairment may be responsible for TNF-alpha elevation in T2DM and DN.