Contribution of hyperglycemia and renal damage to urinary C-peptide clearance in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

The variation of urinary C-peptide clearance in relation to hyperglycemia and renal damage was evaluated in 57 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) with and without overt proteinuria, 14 nondiabetic patients with renal disease (RD) and 18 healthy control subjects. Urinary C-peptide clearance expressed as the ratio of urinary C-peptide to creatinine clearance (CCP/CCR) in the fasting state did not differ in control subjects and RD patients, and was higher equally in NIDDM patients with and without proteinuria. In NIDDM patients without overt proteinuria, urinary levels of C-peptide, beta 2-microglobulin (B2M), N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and albumin as well as CCP/CCR ratio all decreased significantly with short-term glycemic control (P less than 0.05). Despite a wide range of CCP/CCR ratio (0.07-0.73), a weak but significant correlation (r = 0.56, P less than 0.005) was found between fasting serum and urinary C-peptide levels in NIDDM patients. These results suggest that urinary C-peptide may easily be affected by hyperglycemia per se rather than renal damage, while urinary B2M, NAG and albumin may be affected by both hyperglycemia and renal damage. When the urinary C-peptide level is interpreted, the influence of hyperglycemia on it must be taken into consideration.