Table 1.

Role of several inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and their potential predictive roles

Cytokine	Role in Diabetic Nephropathy	Possible prognostic Value
CRP	An acute phase reactant that plays a fundamental role in natural host defense and innate immunity during renal injury	Plasma CRP could be used as an indicator of early stages of diabetic nephropathy
TNF-α	Is involved in systemic inflammation via increasing the formation of lymphocyte chemoattractant factors and cell surface expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 which has been implicated in the development of diabetic nephropathy	Urinary TNF-α levels could be used as a marker for the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy
MCP-1	Mediates macrophage infiltration and accumulation in diabetic nephropathy	Urinary MCP-1 levels is an important marker to detect the progression of later stages of diabetic nephropathy
ICAM-1	Promotes leukocyte adhesion and is involved in renal infiltration of macrophages in diabetic nephropathy	Urinary ICAM-1 could be used as an early marker for monitoring the progression of diabetic nephropathy
TGF-β	TGF-β plays an important role in the development of glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis in diabetes via enhancing glomerular extracellular matrix formation.	Urinary TGF-β could be used as an early marker for the progression of diabetic nephropathy
CCN2	CCN2 is the key factor in stimulating connective tissue cell proliferation, extracellular matrix production, and other profibrotic properties of TGF-β during diabetes	1-Urinary CCN2 levels could be used as a marker of early stage of diabetic nephropathy
		2-Plasma CCN2 levels could be used as a marker for the late stage of diabetic nephropathy