The study for mechanism of glomerular epithelial cell decrease in human diabetic nephropathy.

蛋白尿是糖尿病肾病（DN）进展的重要危险因素。足细胞足突在肾小球基底膜（GBM）上方通过一种称为狭缝隔膜的特殊结构连接。这种结构和狭缝光阑对于glomelurar滤波器的维护是重要的。Podocin、ZO-1和CD 2-AP是足细胞裂膜中的主要蛋白。用免疫组化方法检测DN患者肾组织中这些蛋白的表达。研究蛋白表达与临床参数之间的关系。当分析所有受试者时，podocin蛋白阳性细胞百分比与蛋白尿程度呈负相关。podocin蛋白表达与尿蛋白定量有显著相关性。DN组织中ZO-1和CD 2-AP蛋白表达也明显减少。我们的研究结果表明，这些足细胞蛋白表达的减少可能与人类DN的发展和/或进展密切相关。

Proteinuria is an important risk factor for the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The podocyte foot processes are connected just above the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) by a special structure known as the slit diaphragm. This structure and the slit diaphragm are important for the maintenance of the glomelurar filter. Podocin, ZO-1 and CD2-AP are major protein in the podocyte slit diaphragm. The expression of these proteins has been studied in kidney tissues of DN.These proteins were quantitated by immunohistochemistry. The relationships between protein expression and clinical parameters were examined. There was an inverse correlation between the percentage of cells positive for podocin protein and extent of proteinuria when all subjects were analyzed. There was a significant correlation between podocin protein expression and urine protein. ZO-1 and CD2-AP proteins were also decreased in DN tissues. Our results suggest that decrease of these podocyte proteins expression might be closely linked to the development and/or progression of human DN.