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Circulating β2 and α1 microglobulins predict progression of nephropathy in diabetic patients: a meta‐analysis of prospective cohort studies

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Abstract

Aims

To study the association of circulating β2 (B2M) and α1 microglobulins (A1M) with diabetic nephropathy (DN) progression, a meta-analysis was performed on the prospective cohort studies.

Methods

Up to October 2021, a comprehensive search of the PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases was performed. The primary outcome (progression of DN) was defined as a decrease in eGFR or the occurrence of end stage renal disease or DN-related mortality. Eligible studies were included in a pooled analysis that used either fixed-effect or random-effect models to compensate for variation in measurement standards between studies. The funnel plot and Egger's test were used to assess publication bias.

Results

The meta-analysis included 4398 people from 9 prospective trials (8 cohorts) for B2M and 3110 people from 4 prospective trials (3 cohorts) for A1M. Diabetic individuals with higher B2M levels had an increased risk for DN (relative risk [RR]: 1.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.56–2.09). Likewise, higher A1M was associated with augmented probability of DN (RR: 1.96, 95% CI: 1.46–2.62). The funnel plot and Egger’s tests indicated no publication bias for A1M. Additionally, to compensate for putative publication bias for B2M, using trim and fill analysis, four studies were filled for this marker and the results remained significant (RR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.37–1.92).

Conclusions

The elevated serum levels of B2M and A1M could be considered as potential predictors of DN progression in diabetic patients.

Protocol registration: PROSPERO CRD42021278300.

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Acknowledgements

AG and YG participated in design, data gathering, analysis, interpretation of data and drafting the manuscript. SM contributed to design, data gathering, interpretation of data and drafting the manuscript. AR participated in data gathering and drafting the manuscript. RN participated in comprehensive data searching and collection. MMo and MMa contributed to study design and analysis of the data, respectively. The final version of the manuscript was reviewed and confirmed by all authors. The authors report no conflict of interest. Authors received no fund for this study.

Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Alieh Gholaminejad and Shiva Moein these authors have equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regenerative Medicine Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, 8174673461, Iran

    Alieh Gholaminejad, Shiva Moein, Amir Roointan & Yousof Gheisari

  2. Isfahan Kidney Diseases Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mojgan Mortazavi

  3. Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Rasool Nouri

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Marjan Mansourian

  5. Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Yousof Gheisari

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  1. Alieh Gholaminejad
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  2. Shiva Moein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yousof Gheisari.

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The authors declare they have no financial interests.

Ethical Standard

This study is approved by our university ethics committee (IR.ARI.MUI.REC.1401.077).

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This article belongs to the Topical Collection "Diabetic Nephropathy", Managed by Giuseppe Pugliese.

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Gholaminejad, A., Moein, S., Roointan, A. et al. Circulating β2 and α1 microglobulins predict progression of nephropathy in diabetic patients: a meta‐analysis of prospective cohort studies. Acta Diabetol 59, 1417–1427 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-022-01940-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-022-01940-w

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