Circulating fibroblast growth factor 21 levels predict progressive kidney disease in subjects with type 2 diabetes and normoalbuminuria

Abstract

Background: Elevated fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) levels have been suggested, from crosssectional studies, as an indicator of subclinical diabetic nephropathy. We investigated whether serum FGF21 was predictive of the development of diabetic nephropathy. Method: Baseline serum FGF21 levels were measured in 1136 Chinese type 2 diabetic subjects recruited from the Hong Kong West Diabetes Registry. The role of serum FGF21 in predicting decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over a median follow-up of 4 years was analyzed using Cox regression analysis. Results: At baseline, serum FGF21 levels increased progressively with eGFR category (P for trend