Study of Protein Profiling of Human Urine in Diabetic Hypertensive Nephropathy Versus Normal Healthy Controls

Background: This study describes the levels of protein acting as biomarkers affecting hypertensive diabetic nephropathy in the local Pakistani population. Methods: Patients with both hypertensive nephropathy and diabetes type 2 and normal healthy controls were recruited from Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. Individuals were equally divided into three different groups: group A was the control, group B was hypertensive without diabetic nephropathy, and group C was hypertensive with diabetic nephropathy. Biochemical parameters related to the hypertensive diabetic nephropathy and specific proteins markers were analyzed by two-dimensional liquid chromatography followed by mass spectrometric standard reference protocols. The proteins that showed variation between test and control samples were identified by mass spectrometric analysis. Results: The biochemical data showed significantly higher values of fasting blood sugar, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, and total serum and urinary proteins in the diabetes groups with hypertension but with or without nephropathy compared to the control group. The levels of proteins that act as biomarkers like albumin were the most significant in urine samples of hypertensive diabetic nephropathy group A compared to groups B and C. Conclusions: The prevalence of proteins in hypertensive patients with diabetic nephropathy is higher compared to that in normal patients without nephropathy in the Pakistani population.