Patent ID: 8465980

Claim:
A method of diagnosing diabetic nephropathy in a subject, comprising: obtaining a urine sample from a subject suspected of having diabetic nephropathy; determining the level of a biomarker in the urine sample, wherein the biomarker is a fragment of alpha-1 antitrypsin selected from the group consisting of (i) KGKWERPFEVKDTEEEDF (SEQ ID NO:3), (ii) MIEQNTKSPLFMGKVVNPTQK (SEQ ID NO:4), (iii) EDPQGDAAQKTDTSHHDQDHPTFNKITPNLAE (SEQ ID NO:5), and (iv) EDPQGDAAQKTDTSHHDQDHPTFNKITPNLAEFA (SEQ ID NO:6); and assessing whether the subject has diabetic nephropathy based on the level of the biomarker, wherein a higher level of the biomarker, as compared to that in a diabetic nephropathy-free subject, indicates that the subject has diabetic nephropathy, the level of the biomarker being determined with an antibody that specifically binds to the biomarker.