Japanese researchers find diabetes drugs' potential to protect kidneys

A team of Japanese researchers has found a class of diabetes drugs that help the kidneys to flush out glucose and maintain kidney health.

While Type 2 diabetes can lead to diabetic kidney disease, researchers from the Osaka Metropolitan University explored the potential of SGLT2 (sodium-glucose cotransporter-2) inhibitors to protect kidneys.

SGLT2 was originally developed to improve glycemic control in patients with diabetes.

The study led by Graduate School of Medicine Associate Professor Katsuhito Mori focused on the SGLT2 inhibitor canagliflozin and its effects on the kidney in 14 patients under a hospitalised condition.

The team used BOLD (blood oxygenation level-dependent) MRI -- a method used to see changes in blood oxygen flow in the brain to monitor activity.

They found that patients who used canagliflozin for five days had more oxygen in their kidneys the first day after administration of the drug.

The researchers believe this indicates that SGLT2 inhibitors might improve the oxygenation of the kidneys, thereby protecting the organs.

"In animal experiments, the amount of oxygen in the kidneys can be measured by inserting a microelectrode, but this is not possible in humans," Mori explained.

"BOLD MRI can measure kidney oxygenation non-invasively, and this is expected to become an important technology for elucidating the mechanisms of kidney disease for the development of therapeutic drugs," Mori said.

The findings were published in Frontiers in Endocrinology.

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease. About 1 out of 3 adults with diabetes has kidney disease.

Also known as diabetic nephropathy, the high blood sugar condition can potentially damage the blood vessels and nephrons in kidneys by clogging them. Once the kidneys get damaged, they cannot filter blood, which enables albumin -- a type of protein -- to pass through these filters and end up in the urine.

With an ever-increasing number of diabetes cases, the number of people with diabetic nephropathy is expected to be 191.0 million by 2030.

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