ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The immune-inflammatory system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy; however, many of the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Chitotriosidase enzyme is an active human chitinase and a major protein product of activated macrophages. Although playing an important role in innate and acquired immunity, chitotriosidase involvement in the development of diabetic nephropathy is unknown. DESIGN AND METHODS: Chitotriosidase enzyme activity and the presence of the functional 24-bp duplication mutation of the chitotriosidase gene (CHIT1) were assessed in 262 Egyptian type 2 diabetic patients with and without nephropathy and 90 non-diabetic controls. In diabetic patients, multiple linear regression models were adapted to assess the association of chitotriosidase activity with two important measures of renal disease progression: urinary albumin/creatinine ratio and eGFR, while the association of the CHIT1 genotype with the incidence of nephropathy was evaluated by multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: In diabetic patients, chitotriosidase enzyme activity showed a statistically significant elevation as compared to controls and correlated positively with the progression of nephropathy. A significant association of chitotriosidase activity with both urinary albumin/creatinine ratio and eGFR was detected after adjusting for age, gender, duration of diabetes, body mass index, hypertension status, total cholesterol, triglycerides and HbA1c levels, P<0.001. We also identified a protective association between the CHIT1 mutated genotype and diabetic nephropathy after adjusting for the same confounders (odds ratio: 0.517, 95% CI: 0.289-0.924, P=0.026). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates for the first time that the immunomodulatory effects of chitotriosidase enzyme could be implicated in the development of nephropathy in type 2 diabetes.