Diabetes Drug Could Lower Kidney Damage Risk

Research presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes shows that the glucose-lowering drug lixisenatide could reduce the risk of kidney damage in macroalbuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.

In a follow-up to the ELIXA trial, in which lixisenatide demonstrated cardiovascular safety in diabetes patients, researchers sought to examine the effects of this drug on renal outcomes.

They investigated the percentage change in urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) according to albuminuria status at baseline among 6068 participants from the ELIXA trial.

Overall, baseline UACR data was available for 5978 participants. Of the participants, 4441 had normoalbuminuria, 1148 had microalbuminuria, and 389 had macroalbuminuria. After 108 weeks of follow-up, the placebo-adjusted least-squares mean percentage change in UACR from baseline with lixisenatide was −1·69% in patients with normoalbuminuria, −21·10% in patients with microalbuminuria, and −39·18% in patients with macroalbuminuria.

Treatment with lixisenatide was associated with reduced risk of new-onset macroalbuminuria compared with placebo when adjusted for baseline HbA_1c (hazard ratio [HR] 0.808).

“Lixisenatide reduces progression of UACR in macroalbuminuric patients and is associated with a lower risk of new-onset macroalbuminuria after adjustment for baseline and on-trial HbA_1c and other traditional renal risk factors.”

—Michael Potts

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