THE USE OF CARNOSINE METABOLISM-ASSOCIATED GENES TO DETERMINE GENETIC PREDISPOSITION/SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY

摘要

The present invention discloses a novel system, kit and a method for determining diabetic nephropathy (DN), early stages of DN, or a genetic predisposition for DN in a patient using genes associated with carnosine metabolism or sequence variants of such genes. Moreover, the present invention also relates a method of identifying suitable compounds for the treatment and/or prevention of DN. In one aspect the method comprises comparing the activity and/or expression level of normal carnosinase-1 and/or carnosinase-2, respectively, with that found in an individual to be tested. In other embodiments, the method comprises the comparison of nucleic acid sequences within a span of about 100 kb around the human CN1 and CN2 locus, a region including the LOC 125704 gene or parts of said gene.