Application of Liquid Chromatography with Fluorimetric Detection for the Determination of Urinary Pentosidine in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: Effect of Telmisartan Administration on Podocyturia and Relationship with Metabolic Control

The beneficial effects of a short period of Telmisartan administration were successfully assessed trough pentosidine urinary levels (uPen) and urinary podocyte excretion (UPE), in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients. Patients with podocyturia received Telmisartan treatment (80 mg/day) for two months. uPen were quantified pre and post treatment using HPLC with fluorimetric detection and in-lab synthesized standard. Immunofluorescence method for podocalyxin was used to evaluate urinary excretion of podocytes. uPen and UPE significantly decrease after treatment (p<0.01255 and p<0.005 respectively), as well as serum total cholesterol and LDL levels (p<0.001). These results suggest that podocyte protection by Telmisartan even in the face of deficient metabolic control could be an important matter in the prevention and progression of diabetic nephropathy. This study also strengthens evidence of the promising role of pentosidine as prognostic and diagnostic markers in diabetic nephropathy.