Eligible patients with end-stage renal diseases showed significantly higher serum IL-6, MCP-1, and NF-κB levels versus those without end-stage renal diseases, and multivariate analysis showed that serum IL-6, MCP-1, and NF-κB were independent risk factors for the development of end-stage renal disease in patients with diabetic nephropathy. Here, NFKB1 is linked to diabetic kidney disease.