Patent ID: 8476077

Claim:
A method for assessing efficacy of a diabetic nephropathy treatment in a subject in need thereof, comprising: determining in the subject a pre-treatment level of a urine biomarker, 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); determining in the subject a post-treatment level of the urine biomarker; and assessing efficacy of the diabetic nephropathy treatment by comparing the pre-treatment level and the post-treatment level, wherein the post-treatment level of the biomarker being the same or lower than the pre-treatment level of the biomarker indicates effectiveness of the diabetic nephropathy treatment, the level of the biomarker being determined with an antibody that specifically binds to the biomarker.