Abstract:Objective To investigate the application value of Doppler ultrasound, virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) combined with serum cystatin C (CysC) in early diabetic nephropathy (DN).Methods One hundred and thirty eight patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) admitted to the hospital from September 2020 to September 2022 were selected as the study objects, including 56 patients with simple T2DM, 48 patients with early stage DN, and 34 patients with clinical DN. All patients were diagnosed by Doppler ultrasound and VTQ technology, and the serum CysC level was detected. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors affecting the diagnosis of DN. Receiver operating curve (ROC) was used to analyze the value of Doppler ultrasound, VTQ and CysC in diagnosing DN and early DN.Results Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that: serum creatinine level [O^R = 3.438 (95% CI: 1.415, 8.356) ], end-diastolic minimum blood flow velocity (EDV) (main renal artery at the renal hilum) level of renal artery [O^R = 4.121 ( 95% CI: 1.695, 10.014) ], renal artery resistance index (RI) level [O^R = 4.358 (95% CI: 1.793, 10.591) ], shear wave velocity of renal cortex (SWV) level [O^R = 4.323 (95% CI: 1.779,10.507) ], and CysC level [O^R = 4.229 (95% CI: 1.740, 10.278) ] were the factors affecting the diagnosis of DN (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis results showed that the sensitivity of RI (main renal artery at the renal hilum), EDV (main renal artery at the renal hilum), SWV, CysC, and the combined diagnosis of DN were 70.73% (95% CI: 0.595,0.800), 73.17% (95% CI: 0.621, 0.821), 71.95% (95% CI: 0.608, 0.810), 75.61% (95% CI: 0.647,0.841), and 80.49% (95% CI: 0.700, 0.881); the specificity were 73.21% (95% CI: 0.595, 0.838), 80.36% (95% CI: 0.672, 0.893), 75.00% (95% CI: 0.614, 0.852), 71.43% (95% CI: 0.576, 0.823), and 89.29% (95% CI: 0.775, 0.956); the AUC were 0.734 (95% CI: 0.639, 0.828), 0.756 (95% CI: 0.651, 0.860), 0.718 (95% CI: 0.608, 0.827), 0.739 (95% CI: 0.631, 0.846), and 0.902 (95% CI: 0.837, 0.968). ROC curve analysis results showed that the sensitivity of EDV, RI, SWV, CysC, and the combined diagnosis of early DN were 70.83% (95% CI: 0.557, 0.826), 77.08% (95% CI: 0.623, 0.875), 72.92% (95% CI: 0.579, 0.843), 70.83% (95% CI: 0.557, 0.826), and 83.33% (95% CI: 0.692, 0.920); the specificity were 79.41% (95% CI: 0.616, 0.901), 73.53% (95% CI: 0.554, 0.865), 76.47% (95% CI: 0.584, 0.886), 70.59% (95% CI: 0.523, 0.843), and 91.18% (95% CI: 0.752, 0.977); the AUC were 0.770 (95% CI: 0.672, 0.868), 0.746 (95% CI: 0.634, 0.858), 0.761 (95% CI: 0.665, 0.857), 0.765 (95% CI: 0.653, 0.877), and 0.910 (95% CI: 0.850, 0.969).Conclusion The combination of EDV, RI, SWV and CysC can improve the diagnostic efficiency of early DN.