ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1682136
U-TXM: A Novel Biomarker for Early Detection of Diabetic Kidney Disease
Provisionally accepted
Yujie Jin1
Jiahao Xu1Yan Ma1Chunchen Ni1Yan Yao1Shujuan Shang1Mengru Wang1Chunyan Xing1Song Dong1Chaoqun Xiong1Kang Xie1Ruixi Zhang2
Wenjun Pei2
Shiqiang Liu1Jinhan Cheng1Fan Liu1Siwen Zhang1Dong Li1Lizhuo Wang2Liuming Yu1
Jialin Gao1*- 1First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
- 2Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
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Background and Aims: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. This study aimed to investigate the potential of urinary 11-dehydrothromboxane B2 (U-TXM) as a biomarker for the early detection of DKD. Materials and Methods: A total of 690 patients were enrolled, including 422 with diabetes mellitus (DM) and 268 with DKD. Patients with type 1, type 2, and other specific forms of diabetes were consecutively recruited from the Department of Endocrinology, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College (April–September 2024). U-TXM levels were measured and their clinical relevance to DKD was evaluated using correlation analysis, logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Urinary U-TXM levels were significantly higher in patients with DKD than in those with DM (median: 1158.05 vs. 960.44 pg/mg Cr; P<0.001). When stratified by renal function, U-TXM remained elevated in DKD regardless of serum creatinine (Cr) level (>70 or ≤70 μmol/L, both P<0.001). Multivariate analysis confirmed the existence of an independent association between DKD and U-TXM (OR=1.778, P=0.001), serum Cr (odds ratio [OR]=2.861, P<0.001), and systolic blood pressure (SBP, OR=1.032, P=0.001). U-TXM correlated positively with the urine albumin-to-Cr ratio (r=0.225, P<0.001), but only weakly with Cr and blood urea nitrogen. ROC analysis showed limited diagnostic value for U-TXM alone (area under the curve [AUC]=0.625), which improved substantially when combined with serum Cr and SBP (AUC=0.803). Conclusion: U-TXM shows potential as a biomarker for DKD, particularly in patients at early disease stages. Validation through longitudinal, multicenter, and comparative studies is required to confirm its clinical utility.
Keywords: Diabetic kidney disease, early diagnosis, Novel biomarkers, Urinary 11-Dehydrothromboxane B2, Urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio
Received: 08 Aug 2025; Accepted: 14 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jin, Xu, Ma, Ni, Yao, Shang, Wang, Xing, Dong, Xiong, Xie, Zhang, Pei, Liu, Cheng, Liu, Zhang, Li, Wang, Yu and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jialin Gao, gaojialin-ktz@wnmc.edu.cn
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