[Beta 2-microglobulin in the diagnosis of kidney lesions in diabetes mellitus patients].

The beta2-microglobulin (beta2-MCG) test was done in 115 patients with an insulin dependent type of diabetes mellitus: 30 of them were without renal pathology, 58 had diabetes mellitus with diabetic nephropathy (DN), and 27 had concomitant chronic pyelonephritis. The effect of glucosuria and proteinuria on the beta2-MCG level was revealed. DN development and progress resulted in an increase in the beta2-MCG concentration in the blood that correlated with a decrease in the glomerular filtration. beta2-MCG urinary excretion grew in a clinically manifested DN stage only. Concomitant pyelonephritis in diabetes mellitus patients resulted mostly in a rise of the beta2-MCG level in the urine. Its concentration in the urine during the exacerbation of pyelonephritis exceeded the indices of the control group, on an average, by 467.9%. The beta2-MCG test is a valuable additional criterion in the differential diagnosis of DN in diabetes mellitus patients.