Study Of Urinary Copper And Ceruloplasmin Excretion In Type 2 Diabetic Patients With Nephropathy

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with long-term damage, dysfunction and failure of various organs, especially the eyes, kidneys, nerves heart and blood vesselsDiabetic nephropathy is one of the most serious long-term complications in diabetic patients that has been viewed as an ascending path from normoalbuminuria to ESRD through intermediate stages marked by microalbuminuria and overt proteinuria causing considerable morbidity and mortality.This study was conducted to evaluate the copper and ceruloplasmin levels in type 2 diabetic patients with and without nephropathy in comparison with other diabetic risk factors.This study had been carried out in Internal Medicine Department, Endocrinology and Metabolism Unit, Out Patient Clinic and Medical Biochemistry Department, Zagazig University, on 60 subjects, that were divided into 4 groups, 15 normal healthy subjects as controls (group I), 15 type 2 diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria (group II), 15 type 2 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria (group III) and 15 type 2 diabetic patients with macroalbuminuria (group IV).