Background: Podocyte injury plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). We investigated whether patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) without overt DN present podocyte markers in urine suggestive of early podocyte injury.
Methods: We studied 71 patients with DM type 2 and normal urine albumin excretion (UAE) and 39 non-diabetic controls.