Objective: In patients with diabetes mellitus, increased rate of lipoprotein oxidation and oxidative stress have important role in diabetic angiopathy, including nephropathy. We designed a study for comparing the level of Ox-LDL in diabetic patients with Macro-albuminuria, Micro-albuminuria, versus Normo-albuminuric.

Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirty five patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who had been referred to the Yazd Diabetes Clinic, from 1391 through 1392, were enrolled to our study. The 24 hours urinary albumin excretion was measured and Macro-albuminuria defined as albumin excretion of greater than 300mg per day and below 30mg per day in normo-albuminuric group and between 30-300mg defined as Micro-albuminuria group. Plasma level of OX-LDL was measured.

Results: The plasma OX-LDL level in patients with Macro-albuminuria was higher than those in Normo-albuminuric group, (16.1±3.6 U/ml versus 8.6±1.7 U/ml). There was a significant correlation between the OX-LDL and urine albumin in Macro-albuminuria and Micro-albuminuria groups. There was no significant correlation between the OX-LDL and HbA1C level and diabetes duration.

Conclusion: Significantly elevated plasma OX-LDL in patients with Macro-albuminuria suggests that OX-LDL may play an important role in the progression of diabetic nephropathy.