CLINICOPATHOLOGIC FEATURES AND PROGNOSIS OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS AND DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS: MORE ATTENTION TO YOUNGER PATIENTS.

Objective: Our study sought to investigate the clinicopathologic features and renal prognosis of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in different age groups. Methods: A total of 315 patients with T2DM and biopsy-proven DN were enrolled and divided into three groups by age: the Youth group (≤44 years old), the Middle-aged group (45 to 59 years old), and the Elderly group (≥60 years old). Results: The Youth group, Middle-aged group, and Elderly group accounted for 19.05% (60/315), 59.37% (187/315), and 21.59% (68/315) of the patients in our study, respectively. The patients in the Youth group had a higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (calculated using the Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology collaboration formula) (P<.001), a higher incidence of diabetic retinopathy (P = .044), and a higher incidence of being in the lower-risk chronic kidney disease heat map category (P = .046) but lower duration of diabetes (P = .016). Histologically, patients in the Youth group had the highest incidence of glomerular classification in class I (P = .006) and arteriolar hyalinosis score of 0 (P = .005). The renal survival among the three groups was comparable (P>.05). Conclusion: This study indicated that there were different clinicopathologic features among Chinese DN patients in different age groups. Although the Youth group had a relatively lower rapid kidney disease progression rate, there were no significant differences in renal survival rate among the three groups, which calls more attention to early supervision and prevention for younger DN patients. Abbreviations: CKD = chronic kidney disease; DN = diabetic nephropathy; DR = diabetic retinopathy; eGFR = estimated glomerular filtration rate; ESRD = end-stage renal disease; G&Y&O = green and yellow and orange; IFTA = interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy; T2DM = type 2 diabetes mellitus.