About the Authors

Kentaro Inoue

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Jun Wada

junwada@md.okayama-u.ac.jp

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Jun Eguchi

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Atsuko Nakatsuka

Affiliations Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan, Department of Diabetic Nephropathy, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Sanae Teshigawara

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Kazutoshi Murakami

Affiliations Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan, Department of General Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Daisuke Ogawa

Affiliations Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan, Department of Diabetic Nephropathy, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Takahiro Terami

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Akihiro Katayama

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Atsuhito Tone

Affiliation National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center, Department of Diabetes and Metabolism, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Izumi Iseda

Affiliation National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center, Department of Diabetes and Metabolism, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Kazuyuki Hida

Affiliation National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center, Department of Diabetes and Metabolism, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Masao Yamada

Affiliation GlycoTechnica Ltd., Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Japan

Tomohisa Ogawa

Affiliation GP BioSciences Co., Ltd., Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Japan

Hirofumi Makino

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan

Competing Interests

M. Yamada and T. Ogawa were former emplyees of GP BioSciences Co., Ltd., and M. Yamada is an employee of GlycoTechnica Co., Ltd. There are no other relevant declarations relating to employment, consultancy, patents, products in development or marketed products. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Wrote the paper: JW KI HM. Designed and performed most of the experiments: KI JW. Recruited the patients: JE AN ST KM DO TT AK AT II KH. Performed lectin microarray analysis: MY TO. Conceived the study: JW KI HM.