Objective To investigate the protective effect of pitavastatin on the patients with earlystage diabetic nephropathy and its mechanism.Methods Seventy cases of early-stage type 2 diabetic nephropathy were divided into pitavastatin group and regular treatment group by random digits table method with 35 cases each.Meanwhile,35 healthy adults with physical examination were recruited as control group.Before and after treatment in pitavastatin group and regular treatment group and on the day of physical examination in control group,the blood glucose,blood lipid,renal function,urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER),high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP),tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α,interleukin (IL)-18 were determined and compared.Results Before treatment,the levels of total cholesterol (TC),low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),triglycerides (TG),fasting blood sugar,2 h postprandial blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin,UAER,hs-CRP,TNF-α,IL-18,HDL-C were (5.74 ± 1.35) mmol/L,(3.73 ± 0.75) mmol/L,(3.46 ± 1.87) mmol/L,(10.25 ± 2.36) mmol/L,(15.59 ± 3.64) mmol/L,(8.67 ± 2.28)％,(124.2 ± 52.5) μg/min,(3.64 ± 1.48) mg/L,(43.74 ± 8.35) μ g/L,(113.43 ± 32.75) ng/L,(1.15 ± 0.36) mmol/L in regular treatment group and (5.93 ± 1.41) mmol/L,(3.68 ± 0.71) mmol/L,(3.29 ± 1.92) mmol/L,(10.48 ± 2.69) mmol/L,(16.04 ± 3.16) mmol/L,(9.48 ± 2.46)％,(116.2 ± 50.4) μ g/min,(3.48 ± 1.46) mg/L,(45.93 ± 9.41) μg/L,(120.68 ±35.20) ng/L,(1.18 ±0.35) mmol/L in pitavastatin group,and (4.57 ±0.83) mmol/L,(2.87 ± 0.64) mmol/L,(1.37 ± 0.58) mmol/L,(4.57 ± 1.37) mmol/L,(7.38 ± 1.30) mmol/L,(5.84 ± 1.57)％,(14.8 ± 9.4) μ g/min,(0.84 ± 0.52) mg/L,(10.42 ± 2.83) μ g/L,(20.84 ± 8.56) ng/L,(1.54 ± 0.39) mmol/L in control group.Before treatment,the levels of TC,LDL-C,TG,fasting blood sugar,2 h postprandial blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin,UAER,hs-CRP,TNF-α,IL-18 in regular treatment group and pitavastatin group were higher than those in control group,HDL-C was lower than that in control group,and there were significant differences(P ＜ 0.01).The levels of TC,LDL-C,TG were (4.42 ± 1.28),(3.20 ± 0.57),(2.02 ± 0.87) mmol/L after treatment in pitavastatin group,which were lower than those before treatment,and there were significant differences (P ＜ 0.01).The levels of UAER,hs-CRP,TNF-α,IL-18 were (88.3 ± 36.7) μ g/min,(2.54 ± 0.76) mg/L,(35.62 ± 5.28) μg/L,(83.23 ± 21.57) ng/L in regular treatment group and (64.8 ± 34.6)μ g/min,(2.19 ± 0.65) mg/L,(27.70 ± 7.58) μ g/L,(63.20 ± 18.67) ng/L in pitavastatin group after treatment,which were lower than those before treatment,but the decreased degree was obvious in pitavastatin group.Conclusions Pitavastatin can significantly reduce not only UAER,but also the levels of hs-CRP,TNF-α,IL-18,while effectively lower the blood lipid,in early diabetic nephropathy,which indicates that pitavastatin can reduce urine protein and protect renal function by inhibiting the inflammatory process.