A recent study published in Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders reported an association between serum Klotho levels and diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The study aimed to determine the relationship between serum klotho level and DKD in American adults with diabetes.

A total of 3214 individuals with T2DM were included in the study, among whom  1967 were diagnosed with DKD. The association was found using multivariate linear regression models with the 2007–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. For exploring the potential of nonlinear relationships, smoothed curve fittings were conducted. From genome-wide association studies (GWAS), two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted using summary statistics. Complemented by additional MR techniques, inverse variance weighting (IVW) was also used to investigate the causal link.

Higher Klotho levels were found to be associated with a lower incidence of DKD. While the serum Klotho concentration was found to be a direct protective factor of diabetic nephropathy, IVW odds ratio (OR): 0.859 (95% confidence interval 0740–0.998), p<0.05.