Role of vitamin D in diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) or Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the major microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). DN is observed in approximately 20–40% of diabetic patients. DN is also an important risk factor for DM patient’s death. Nowadays, DN has become the leading cause of chronic renal failure (CRF) in most countries without effective therapeutic methods. Recently, the renoprotective effects mediated by vitamin D have been evidenced. Currently available evidence showed that vitamin D is effective in reducing proteinuria in DN patients. A recent meta-analysis demonstrated the therapeutic effect of vitamin D, on urinary albumin excretion, in DN patients. This review summarized the multiple roles of vitamin D in mechanism of renopretective effect of vitamin D to explore much more and effective therapeutic methods for DN.