Abstract:

ABSTRACT Objective：To investigate the common and different regulated genes and their molecular pathways between diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients in Chinese Han and Caucasian population. Methodology：Twenty nine Chinese Han DN patients and 6 normal control, 21 Caucasian DN patients and 35 normal control were selected in this study. The glomeruli were micro-dissected. The Affymetrix human U133 plus 2.0 chip were used to detect the whole-genome scale gene expression profile of the glomeruli. The regulated genes between DN and normal control and the genes associated with the eGFR of DN patients had separately been analyzed. Then, the common and different regulated genes and genes associated with eGFR of DN between Chinese Han and Caucasian population was compared to used comparative analysis . Results：(1) 565 genes were regulated in the Chinese Han DN patients compared with the normal control, while 775 genes were regulated in the Caucasian DN patients compared with their normal control. (2) Comparative analysis showed that 200 genes were both regulated in the Chinese Han and Caucasian DN patients, and the regulated directions were same. Enriched pathway analysis revealed 13 signaling pathways were both regulated in the Chinese Han and Caucasian DN patients. Most of the regulated signaling pathways were involved in the inflammation response. (3) 225 genes and 293 genes associated with eGFR in Chinese Han and Caucasian DN patients, respectively. Comparative analysis showed that 55 genes including CRISPLD2、SPON1、LUM and so on were significantly associated with eGFR in both two races. Conclusion：We revealed a series of genes and pathways which were both regulated in Chinese Han and Caucasian DN patients, and found that the inflammation pathways play critical role in the progression of DN in both races. We also demonstrated that 55 genes were associated with the changes of renal function in both Chinese Han and Caucasian DN patients. These genes had the potential to be the prognostic biomarkers of DN patients, but it still need to be validated in the further study.

Key words: diabetic nephropathy, whole-genome scale gene expression profile, molecular mechanisms, inflammation