^

Health

A
A
A

Symptoms of diabetic nephropathy

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
 
Fact-checked
х

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.

We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.

If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.

At the initial stages (I and II), the course of diabetic nephropathy is asymptomatic. When performing the Reberg test, an increase in SCF is noted (> 140-150 ml/min x 1.73 m2 ).

At stage III (the stage of incipient diabetic nephropathy), symptoms are also absent, microalbuminuria (20-200 mg/l) is determined with normal or increased SCF.

Starting from the stage of severe diabetic nephropathy (stage IV), patients develop clinical symptoms of diabetic nephropathy, which primarily include:

Laboratory tests determine:

  • proteinuria (> 150 mg protein per day);
  • decrease in SCF (steadily progressing, by approximately 1 ml/min per month);
  • dyslipidemia,
  • the level of creatinine, urea nitrogen, potassium - at the upper limit of the norm, then above the norm;
  • nephritic syndrome, the signs of which are massive proteinuria (> 3.5 g/day), hypoalbuminemia, hypercholesterolemia, develops in 30% of patients with diabetic nephropathy.

At this same stage, a rapid increase in the severity of other micro- and macrovascular complications of diabetes usually begins, i.e. the development of clinical manifestations of coronary heart disease, obliterating atherosclerosis of the lower extremities, atherosclerotic cerebrovascular insufficiency, diabetic foot syndrome, diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy.

Stage V of diabetic nephropathy (stage of uremia) is characterized by:

  • uncontrollable increase in blood pressure;
  • progression of fluid retention in the body, including the development of heart failure and pulmonary edema;
  • the addition of specific symptoms of chronic renal failure (itching of the skin, uremic bad breath, uremic gastropathy and polyneuropathy, etc.), normochromic anemia, osteodystrophy.

Diagnostic criteria for albuminuria

Characteristics of albuminuria

Albuminuria

Urine albumin concentration, mg/l

Urine albumin/creatinine ratio, mg/mmol

In the morning portion, mcg/min

Per day, mg

Normoalbuminuria

<20

<30

<20

<2.5 in men
<3.5 in women

Microalbuminuria

20-200

30-300

20-200

2.5-25 for men
3.5-25 for women

Macroalbuminuria

>200

>300

>200

>25

trusted-source[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ]

You are reporting a typo in the following text:
Simply click the "Send typo report" button to complete the report. You can also include a comment.