In support of clinical relevance of these observations in experimental animal models, clinical studies have shown that circulating CXCL16 is elevated in patients with CKD and diabetic nephropathy and high levels of CXCL16 are associated with CKD progression and development of proteinuria (Lin et al., 2011; Zhao et al., 2014). Here, CXCL16 is linked to diabetic kidney disease.