Drugs like Ozempic may help reverse chronic kidney disease.
Researchers including Katherine Tuttle report that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, repaired kidney blood vessels and reduced inflammation in people with diabetic chronic kidney disease, according to a Nature Medicine study.
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, appeared to repair and restore the blood vessels that power the kidney's filtering system, researchers reported October 1 in Nature Medicine. In patients with chronic kidney disease, the drug also increased blood flow and reduced inflammation, the team found.
Chronic kidney disease affects an estimated 674 million people worldwide, and diabetes and high blood pressure are among its most common causes. As it progresses, the kidneys gradually lose the ability to filter waste from the blood, and the risk of death from heart attack or stroke rises sharply. A 2024 trial in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people with diabetic chronic kidney disease who took semaglutide were less likely to reach kidney failure or die of a heart attack or stroke than those given a placebo. That trial was stopped early because continuing the placebo was no longer considered ethical.
For the new work, some of the same researchers examined a subset of 106 participants to learn how the drug worked. They collected kidney tissue samples before and after treatment and compared them with samples from people on the placebo. Semaglutide was linked to increased blood flow, reduced scarring and reduced blood vessel stiffness. Levels of albumin, a protein that can leak into urine when the kidney's filters are not working well, fell in the semaglutide group but changed little in the placebo group.
The team also studied gene activity in the glomerulus, the tiny blood vessels that do the filtering. Katherine Tuttle, a nephrologist at the University of Washington's Providence Medical Research Center in Spokane, and colleagues found that genes tied to metabolic stress and inflammation were turned off, while repair genes were turned on. Immune cells that had been sending many inflammatory signals to each other went quiet after treatment.
Researchers not involved in the study offered context. Susan Quaggin of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said the results reinforce the drug's known anti-inflammatory effects and suggest it may also protect kidney blood vessels directly. Peter Nguyen of Houston Methodist Hospital noted that greater blood flow increases filtration, which is the kidneys' main job. Tuttle said the patients' damaged kidneys showed clear signs of repair.
Note: The headline says the drugs may help reverse chronic kidney disease. The page says semaglutide showed signs of repair and healing in the kidneys of people with diabetic chronic kidney disease, and does not say the disease was reversed or that other drugs were tested.
At a Glance
- The findings were published October 1 in Nature Medicine and analyzed kidney tissue from 106 participants in an earlier semaglutide trial.
- Chronic kidney disease affects an estimated 674 million people worldwide.
- Semaglutide was linked to increased kidney blood flow, reduced scarring and reduced blood vessel stiffness compared with placebo.
- Urine albumin levels dropped in patients taking semaglutide but changed little in those taking the placebo.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.