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Genetics of Diabetic Nephropathy: a Long Road of Discovery

  • Microvascular Complications—Nephropathy (T Isakova, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

The global prevalence of diabetic nephropathy is rising in parallel with the increasing incidence of diabetes in most countries. Unfortunately, up to 40 % of persons diagnosed with diabetes may develop kidney complications. Diabetic nephropathy is associated with substantially increased risks of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. An inherited susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy exists, and progress is being made unravelling the genetic basis for nephropathy thanks to international research collaborations, shared biological resources and new analytical approaches. Multiple epidemiological studies have highlighted the clinical heterogeneity of nephropathy and the need for better phenotyping to help define important subgroups for analysis and increase the power of genetic studies. Collaborative genome-wide association studies for nephropathy have reported unique genes, highlighted novel biological pathways and suggested new disease mechanisms, but progress towards clinically relevant risk prediction models for diabetic nephropathy has been slow. This review summarises the current status, recent developments and ongoing challenges elucidating the genetics of diabetic nephropathy.

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Amy Jayne McKnight, Seamus Duffy and Alexander P. Maxwell declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nephrology Research Group, Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast, c/o Regional Genetics Centre, Level A, Tower Block, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7AB, UK

    Amy Jayne McKnight, Seamus Duffy & Alexander P. Maxwell

  2. Regional Nephrology Unit, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, BT9 7AB, UK

    Alexander P. Maxwell

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  1. Amy Jayne McKnight
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  2. Seamus Duffy
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  3. Alexander P. Maxwell
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Correspondence to Alexander P. Maxwell.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Microvascular Complications—Nephropathy

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McKnight, A.J., Duffy, S. & Maxwell, A.P. Genetics of Diabetic Nephropathy: a Long Road of Discovery. Curr Diab Rep 15, 41 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-015-0610-9

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