The stages of diabetic nephropathy follow the stages of chronic kidney disease. 1)       Stage 1: records little or very minimal damage to the kidney with a GFR of 90% and above. 2)       Stage 2: minimal damage to the kidney with 60 to 89% GFR. 3)       Stage 3: Increased damage to the kidney with few and upcoming symptoms. GFR of 30 to 59%. 4)       Stage 4: Severe damage to the kidney with obvious symptoms. Records a GFR of 15% to 29%. 5)       Stage 5: End-stage renal (kidney) failure. Kidney losses all its functions with less than 15% GFR.