ALB and diabetic kidney disease: Although the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy remains incompletely delineated, results of recent studies support the hypothesis that damage to glomerular podocytes and abnormalities in podocyte function are intimately involved in the development of diabetic renal disease and in the increased albumin excretion that heralds its onset (Ellis et al. 1987; Parving et al. 1992, 2002; Pagtalunan et al. 1997; Altonen et al. 2001; Steffes et al. 2001; Langham et al. 2002; Toyoda et al. 2004).