TGFBI and diabetes mellitus: In summary, we provide evidence that, 8 weeks after the induction of diabetes, streptozotocin-diabetic rats manifest increased urine levels of nephrin, podocalyxin, and βig-h3 that show positive correlations with each other as well as with albuminuria, and that administration of a compound that lowers the concentration of AGA significantly decreases urinary levels of these analytes, linking the elevated concentrations of AGA associated with diabetes to the abnormalities resulting in podocyte dysfunction and shedding of podocyte proteins in the urine.