Glycosaminoglycans and diabetic nephropathy
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the leading places in the structure of mortality of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Russia and abroad. Despite intensive study, the causes and development mechanisms of this complication are not finally clear. Most often, diabetic kidney damage is seen as the result of a complex interaction of metabolic, hemodynamic, genetic and other mechanisms. At the same time, the majority of researchers give the leading role to hyperglycemia and the metabolic disorders triggered by it. The latter include intensification of non-enzymatic glycation processes, activation of protein kinase C and polyol shunt, oxidative and carbonyl stress, hyperlipidemia, an imbalance of transcription factors and cytokines, and collagen metabolic disturbances. The role of these factors in the formation of DN has been reflected in a number of recent reviews.