ALB and type 2 diabetes nephropathy: Furthermore, in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 136 individuals with early-stage type 2 diabetic nephropathy and concurrent hypothyroidism, 48 weeks of levothyroxine treatment, compared to a placebo, led to a reduction in the urinary albumin excretion rate and exerted a renal protective effect on the patients [42].