Study of serum Fatty Acid Binding Protein-1 levels in Diabetic Kidney Disease

Background: One of the major microvascular complications of both type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD), often presenting as progressive proteinuria or, less commonly, as a non-proteinuric reduction in Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR).Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic capability of serum fatty acid-binding protein 1 (FABP-1) levels in proteinuric versus non-proteinuric DKD.Methods: Ninety individuals were divided into three groups for this case-control study: Group I included 30 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) (type 2 or1) with evidence of persistent proteinuric DKD, Group II comprised another 30 patients with DM (type 2 or1) with evidence of persistent non-proteinuric DKD, and Group III consisted of 30 healthy controls. The study was conducted at Al-Hussein University and Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospitals from March to December 2023.Results: FABP-1 Serum levels were markedly greater in both Group I & II than in the control group, with Group I demonstrating notably elevated levels compared to Group II. The duration of diabetes and urinary Albumin Creatinine Ratio levels in Group I showed a significant association with FABP-1 levels. ROC curve analysis determined that serum FABP-1, with a threshold of > 2.98 ng/ml, could identify proteinuric DKD with a specificity of 78.33% and a sensitivity of 93.33%.Conclusion: Serum levels of FABP1 correlated significantly with the duration of diabetes in DKD patients, distinguishing between proteinuric and non-proteinuric conditions with high sensitivity and moderate specificity.