Detailed Instructions: In this task, you are given a passage which has a question and the context. You have to generate an answer to the question based on the information present in the context.
Problem:Context: To investigate the role of zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein (ZAG) in the early stage of diabetic nephropathy, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).', 'This cross-sectional observational study recruited patients with longstanding T2DM and healthy control subjects. Patients with T2DM were further stratified based on their urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Serum and urine concentrations of ZAG were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.', 'Eighty patients with T2DM and 20 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. MeanSD concentrations of ZAG in serum and urine were both significantly higher in patients with T2DM (serum: 38.2922.72mg/l; urine: 53.6429.48mg/g) compared with concentrations in healthy control subjects (serum: 21.618.83mg/l; urine: 28.1710.64mg/g). Serum ZAG concentration was positively correlated with serum creatinine and eGFR. Urine ZAG concentration was positively correlated with UACR. Urine concentration of ZAG in the higher eGFR group was higher than that in the normal eGFR group (41.2613.67 versus 32.058.55mg/g, respectively).\Question: Does adipokine zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein as a novel urinary biomarker present earlier than microalbuminuria in diabetic nephropathy?
Solution:
These preliminary findings suggest that ZAG might be a potentially useful biomarker for early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy in patients with T2DM.