Plasma sRAGE Is Independently Associated With Urinary Albumin Excretion in Type 2 Diabetes

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of late diabetes complications (1–5; rev. in 6). However, little is known about the physiologic function of endogenous sRAGE, a splice variant of the full-length receptor found in plasma (7). It was recently reported that plasma sRAGE levels are diminished in type 1 and type 2 diabetes and correlate inversely with intima-media thickness (8,9), suggesting a protective role of high sRAGE levels in the development of late vascular complications. In view of these data, we aimed to decipher an association of plasma sRAGE with albuminuria as a marker of microvascular damage in 90 patients with type 2 diabetes and regular glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Ninety type 2 diabetic patients were recruited from family practices, being referred to our diabetes outpatient clinic for specialist treatment after giving written consent. The study was approved by the local ethics committee. For eligibility, patients had to test positive for albuminuria in two separate urine samples (>20 mg/dl albumin). Detailed patient characteristics are given in Table 1. Twenty-four–hour urine samples were collected on 3 consecutive days, and the mean of albumin excretion was taken for statistical evaluation. All blood values as well as ambulatory 24-h blood pressure values (given as mean …