Abstract:Objective To explore the early diagnostic value of chitinase 1 and heat shock protein 72 in type 2 diabetic nephropathy. Methods According to the difference of the 24 h urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER), 180 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were divided into diabetic without nephropathy group with 55 cases, early diabetic nephropathy group with 61 cases and clinical diabetic nephropathy group with 64 cases. Another 50 healthy volunteers who were underwent physical examination in our hospital at the same time were selected as healthy control group. The levels of serum chitinase 1, heat shock protein 72 and renal function related indexes in each group were compared, and the correlation among indexes was analyzed, and the early diagnostic value of chitinase 1 and heat shock protein 72 in type 2 diabetic nephropathy was analyzed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Results The levels of serum chitinase 1, heat shock protein 72, uric acid (UA) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in diabetic without nephropathy group, early diabetic nephropathy group and clinical diabetic nephropathy group were higher than those in the healthy control group (P?0.05). The levels of the above indicators in diabetic without nephropathy group, early diabetic nephropathy group and clinical diabetic nephropathy group were all increasing gradually. Chitinase 1 and heat shock protein 72 were positively correlated with UA and HbA1c (all P?< 0.05). The ROC-AUC of chitinase-1 and heat shock protein were 0.762 and 0.815 respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity were above 0.7. Conclusions The levels of serum chitinase 1 and heat shock protein 72 in type 2 diabetic nephropathy are increase significantly, and they are correlation with renal function indexes. Both may contribute to early diagnosis of type 2 diabetic nephropathy.