Renal function in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: purposes and design of the Diabetic Renal Disease Study.

Type 2, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus accounts for 60% of the end-stage renal disease attributed to diabetes in the United States, yet little is known about glomerular function or the development of renal disease in this type of diabetes. The Diabetic Renal Disease Study (DRDS) is a longitudinal study designed to elucidate the natural history of renal disease and to characterize glomerular function throughout the course of renal disease in type 2, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The study is being conducted among the Pima Indians from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona because they experience a very high rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which often develops at a young age and which is frequently associated with the development of renal disease. Glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow, albumin and IgG excretion, level of vasoactive hormones, retinal damage, and glomerular capillary permeability to dextrans of different sizes will be assessed at regular intervals over 48 months in six groups of subjects representing a range of glucose tolerance from normal to diabetes, and among the diabetic subjects, a range of proteinuria from normal to overt diabetic nephropathy. The DRDS is designed to provide new information on the functional determinants of renal disease in type 2, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and will serve as the basis for designing intervention strategies.