The Morphologic Patterns of Diabetic Nephropathy in Koreans

Background : Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease and it has various pathologic features. We investigated the clinicopathologic differences between the histologic classes of diabetic nephropathy. Methods : A total of 46 patients with diabetic nephropathy were evaluated. Morphologically, the renal lesions were divided into three categories: class 1, diffuse or nodular glomerulosclerosis: class 2, vascular change without evidence of glomerulosclerosis: and class 3, non-diabetic renal disease superimposed on diabetic glomerulosclerosis. We evaluated the laboratory findings and the histologic findings, including mesangial expansion, interstitial fibrosis and inflammation, arteriolar hyalinosis and tubular atrophy. Results : The proportion of each class was 32 cases (70%), 4 cases (9%) and 10 cases (21%), respectively. The clinical and laboratory data showed no significant difference among the classes. For the groups of class 1, the group with nodular sclerosis showed a higher serum creatinine level than did the diffuse group (p=0.003). IgA nephropathy was the most common nondiabetic renal disease superimposed on diabetic glomerulosclerosis in our study. Conclusions : The patients with nodular glomerulosclerosis presented with a more progressed clinicopathological features than did the patients with class 1 diffuse glomerulosclerosis. We also found 21% of all the patients with diabetic nephropathy had superimposed non-diabetic renal disease in a Korean population.