Correlation analysis between Tervaert glomerular classification and clinical indicators in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy

Abstract Purpose To investigate the correlation analysis of Tervaert glomerular classification and clinical indicators in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods We collected the renal sections of patients with DN and used immunoglobulin G (IgG), albumin (Alb), PAS, and MASSON staining to observe the extent of glomerular lesions. We simultaneously collected their clinical data for statistics and conducted correlation analysis with Tervaert glomerular classification. Moreover, we collected patients’ urine protein components data and conducted a correlation analysis with Tervaert classification. Results Tervaert classification reflects glomerular changes and was positively related to proteinuria, creatinine (Cr), and blood urea nitrogen but was negatively related to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Tervaert classification was also positively related to total protein (TP), transferrin (TRF), retinol binding protein (RBP), N-acetyl-β-D aminoglucosidase (NAG), Alb, cystatin C (Cyc), IgG, β2-microglobulin (β2-MG), α1-microglobulin (α1-MG), Alb/Cr, and TP/Cr in urine. Conclusion Our study reveals that clinical indicators could well reflect glomerular lesions and has great value for the diagnosis and treatment of early DN.