Three subjects with overt diabetic nephropathy had reported history of CVD and corresponding higher levels of CD45_bright/CD14+/OCN+ cells compared to subjects without nephropathy (27.3 ± 3.1% vs 15.1 ± 7.6%, p = 0.03) (Additional file 3: Figure S2A). This evidence concerns the gene PTPRC and Nephropathy.