Blood/Urine Markers for Drug Discovery for Renal Disease in Diabetes

The aim of the study is to investigate novel putative mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of kidney disease in diabetic patients.

The investigators will make use of plasma, serum or urine obtained from patients with diabetes.

Cells in culture will be treated with plasma or serum or urine; cells extracts or supernatant will be studied to screen for modulation (activation/inhibition) of different cellular pathways using gene array, metabolomic and/or proteomic. Once some cellular pathways have been identified specific analysis will be conducted on the biological material collected to confirm specific "cell signatures" that could represent potential target for treatment.

The investigators will recruit patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes attending our outpatient diabetes clinic at Guys' and St Thomas Hospital. The participant will be informed of the aim of the research and if agreeable in donating blood and urine sample; participants will be asked to sign a written informed consent explaining in simple word the aim of the research, the involvement they should have (blood sample and urine sample collection), the minimal risk to which they will be exposed (venopuncture).

The study will involve one or more blood collections from the arm, for up to 30 mls (6 tea spoons) per year (up to 10 yeas duration), to be collected on up to 2 occasions/ year (minimum time between two collections: 4 weeks), with up to 15ml (3 tea spoon) of blood maximum volume taken per occasion. Urine samples (any amount) might also be collected at any time. Blood and urine collections will take approximately 15 minutes.