Table 1.

Staging of diabetic nephropathy

Stages	DN staging Tervaert et al. [11]	DN staging Gheith et al. [13]
Stage 1	Glomerular basement membrane thickening	From onset to 5 years. Borderline GFR, no albuminuria, hypertension. But kidney size increased by 20% along with an increase in renal plasma flow
Stage 2	Mild or severe mesangial expansion	From 2 years after onset with basement membrane thickening and mesangial prolieration, normal GFR and no clinical symptoms
Stage 3	Nodular sclerosis	5–10 years after onset with or without hypertension, with glomerular damage and microalbuminuria (30–300 mg/day)
Stage 4	Advanced diabetic glomerulosclerosis that includes tubulointerstitial lesions and vascular lesions	Irreversible proteinuria, sustained hypertension and GFR below 60 ml/min/1.73 m2
Stage 5	–	End-stage kidney disease with GFR < 15 ml/min/1.73 m2

DN diabetic nephropathy, GFR glomerular filtration rate