Abstract:Objective To investigate the changes of serum fetuin A (Fetuin-A) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and the value of early diagnosis of DN.Methods Seventy-three DN patients admitted to the hospital from September 2018 to December 2021 were selected as the research group, and 61 simple diabetic patients admitted to the hospital during the same period were selected as the control group. The basic data of the two groups of patients were collected, the factors affecting the occurrence of DN in diabetic patients were analyzed, the value of serum Fetuin-A and NGAL in the diagnosis of DN was analyzed, and the serum Fetuin-A and NGAL levels of DN patients with different conditions in the study group were analyzed.Results Urinary albumin excretion rate, serum creatinine, CysC, Fetuin-A, and NGAL in the study group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of Fetuin-A and NGAL in DN group with massive albuminuria were higher than those in DN group with normal albuminuria and DN group with microalbuminuria (P <0.05), and the levels of Fetuin-A and NGAL in DN group with microalbuminuria were higher than those in DN group with normal albuminuria (P < 0.05). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that UAER [O^R = 9.612 (95% CI: 3.955, 23.360) ], Fetuin-A [O^R = 5.058 (95% CI: 2.081, 12.293) ], and NGAL [O^R = 5.490 (95% CI: 2.259, 13.343) ] levels were the risk factors for DN in diabetic patients (P < 0.05). The ROC curve results showed that the sensitivities of serum Fetuin-A, NGAL and their combination to diagnose DN in diabetic patients were 71.23% (95% CI: 0.593, 0.809), 73.97% (95% CI: 0.622, 0.832), and 71.23% (95% CI: 0.593, 0.809), respectively; specificities were 70.49% (95% CI: 0.573, 0.811), 75.41% (95% CI: 0.624, 0.852), 95.08% (95% CI: 0.854, 0.987) , respectively; AUC were 0.720 (95% CI: 0.608, 0.831), 0.759 (95% CI: 0.659, 0.860), 0.893 (95% CI: 0.817, 0.968), respectively.Conclusion Serum Fetuin-A combined with NGAL has a good effect on early diagnosis of DN, and Fetuin-A and NGAL are related to the disease of DN.