[Who will develop diabetic nephropathy?].

While the pathogenetic mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy are not fully known, the greatest risk factors include long duration of diabetes, prolonged poor glucose homeostasis, hypertension, lipid disorders, smoking and male gender. According to family studies, the development of diabetic nephropathy is also influenced by hereditary factors. Two gene loci associated with end-stage nephropathy have been identified in a genome-wide study. Diabetic nephropathy is a multifactorial disease, whereby elucidation of its pathogenetic of mechanisms requires extensive multidisciplinary studies. For the present it cannot be precisely predicted who will develop diabetic nephropathy.