Scientists discover the benefits and the inconvenients of Ozempic in real time, while prescriptions for this appetite suppressant drug number in the millions around the world.
What started as a diabetes drug shows great promise for heart healtheven for those who don’t lose much weight, and now experts are also discovering the potential benefits of this drug for kidney health.
A large international trial, funded by Ozempic’s pharmaceutical supplier Novo Nordisk, suggests that when the drug is given at a lower dose than commonly used for diabetes or weight loss, the kidneys appear to benefit.
The trial involved more than 3,500 participants from 28 different countries with type 2 diabetes. And chronic kidney disease – a combination of conditions that puts individuals at much higher risk of kidney failure and sometimes fatal cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks.
Between June 2019 and May 2021, half of the trial participants randomly received a small weekly dose of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic. The other half received a placebo.
Those who received the weekly injections showed a slower loss of kidney function, a reduced risk of kidney failure, lower systolic blood pressure and reduced body weight compared to the placebo group.
After 3.4 years, participants taking Ozempic had a 24% lower risk of major kidney events, an 18% lower risk of having a heart attack or other major cardiovascular event, and a 20% lower risk of death from any cause. or the cause.
“We would save the kidneys, the hearts and the lives of this population by making this drug available to them and it is quite extraordinary that a single treatment can do that,” said nephrologist Vlado Perkovic, from the University of New South Wales in Australia.
“One of the most common causes of kidney disease is diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, which has also seen dramatic growth in recent decades.”
Obviously, Novo Nordisk has a financial incentive to find more ways to prescribe Ozempic, but the shift from treating diabetes to treating kidneys isn’t that big.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common cause of chronic kidney disease in many countries, and other medications aimed at balancing blood sugar are already prescribed to protect the kidneys and reduce the risk of adverse cardiovascular effects in patients. .
Initial studies, with or without industry funding, suggest that Ozempic may have beneficial effects on the health of the kidneys, which play a key role in eliminating waste and fluids in the body and controlling blood pressure.
Nonetheless, few trials have “enrolled significant numbers of participants with significantly reduced kidney function,” Perkovic and colleagues write in their published paper.
“The cardiovascular and survival benefits of semaglutide in these patients are particularly important, as they are among the populations at highest risk of cardiovascular disease and death,” the team adds.
Semaglutide is classified as a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, meaning it mimics a natural hormone in the human body to improve blood sugar control and suppress appetite.
It is not yet understood why semaglutide and other commercially available GLP-1 agonists, such as liraglutide and tirzepatide, have positive effects on cardiovascular and renal health.
Although weight loss may be a contributing factor, recent studies on Ozempic suggest that a reduction in body fat is likely only one of many processes involved.
Like heart cells, kidney cells have GLP-1 receptors, according to the researchers. suspicious that the protective effects of Ozempic seen in early evidence may be due, in part, to the fact that the drug acts directly on the kidneys, which could lead to less inflammation and oxidative stress.
The medication might also have indirect effects, such as lowering blood sugar, blood pressure, and body weight, all of which can ease pressure on the kidneys.
But for now, these are just hypotheses. More research is needed to understand the true impact of semaglutide and similar drugs on the body’s major organs.
Given the limited treatment options available for people with diabetic kidney disease, current guidelines from the American Diabetes Association and the Korean Diabetes Association recommend that clinicians consider prescribing GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Researchers now want to determine whether this class of drugs also works against chronic kidney disease in general, or whether it is just useful for people with diabetic kidney disease in particular.
The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
News Source : www.sciencealert.com
Gn Health
