Specific long-term objectives are to develop a diagnostic test that will detect the occurrence of diabetic nephropathy at an earlier, treatable phase. The developed test reagent will be monoclonal antibodies to antigens that are associated with diabetic nephropathy. The source of diabetic nephrotic-related antigen will be circulating immune complexes that occur in the blood of all human diabetics developing this progressive kidney disease. Phase I will involve organization and collection of all research data to begin screening of hybridomas for antibody production to potential markers for human diabetic nephropathy. Phase II will entail antigen characterization, occurrence, specificity, and relatedness to other diseases.As diabetic nephropathy affects half of the Type I diabetics, a specific, rapid, inexpensive test performed at the clinical level has enormous medical importance for diagnosing and eventually treating nephropathic diabetics. Presently the only reliable diagnostic test is proteinuria which, tragically, detects kidney diseases at an irreversible stage.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
