Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Diabetes. Apr 15, 2026; 17(4): 115058
Published online Apr 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i4.115058
Published online Apr 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i4.115058
Evolving strategies for nephroprotection in diabetic kidney disease: From established therapies to novel interventions
Guido Gembillo, Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina 98125, Sicilia, Italy
Luca Visconti, Valeria Tranchida, Sebastiano Calimeri, Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, Ospedali Riuniti Villa Sofia Cervello, University of Palermo, Palermo 90146, Sicilia, Italy
Chiara Nardi, Department of Abdominal Center, Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad alta specializzazione, Palermo 90127, Sicilia, Italy
Maria Elsa Gambuzza, Territorial Office of Messina, Ministry of Health, Messina 98125, Sicilia, Italy
Maria Princiotto, Centre for Biostatistics and Applied Geriatric Clinical Epidemiology, Italian National Research Center on Aging, Cosenza 87100, Calabria, Italy
Chiara Chinigo, Italian National Research Center on Aging, Centre for Biostatistics and Applied Geriatric Clinical Epidemiology, Cosenza 87100, Calabria, Italy
Luca Soraci, Unit of Geriatric Medicine, Italian National Research Center on Aging, Cosenza 87100, Calabria, Italy
Domenico Santoro, Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, AOU "G. Martino", University of Messina, Messina 98125, Sicilia, Italy
Co-first authors: Guido Gembillo and Luca Visconti.
Author contributions: Gembillo G and Visconti L contributed equally to this study as co-first/corresponding authors; Gembillo G, Visconti L, Santoro D, and Soraci L contributed to the literature search; Gembillo G, Santoro D, Tranchida V and Nardi C contributed to conceptualization; Calimeri S, Gambuzza ME, Chinigo C and Princiotto M contributed to study selection; Gembillo G, Visconti L, Tranchida V, Soraci L and Nardi C, contributed to manuscript drafting; both Gembillo G and Visconti L played indispensable roles in the review design, data interpretation and manuscript preparation as the co-first authors; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Guido Gembillo, MD, PhD, Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, 1, Messina 98125, Sicilia, Italy. guidogembillo@live.it
Received: October 9, 2025
Revised: December 7, 2025
Accepted: January 19, 2026
Published online: April 15, 2026
Processing time: 189 Days and 23.9 Hours
Revised: December 7, 2025
Accepted: January 19, 2026
Published online: April 15, 2026
Processing time: 189 Days and 23.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a complex and leading cause of end-stage renal disease, traditionally managed through glycemic and blood pressure control. However, recent advances, including sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 in