The renoprotective effect of once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist dulaglutide on progression of nephropathy in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (JDDM67).

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Few studies have investigated the renoprotective effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study evaluated the effect of dulaglutide 0.75 mg on renal function in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and CKD stage 3 to 4. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dulaglutide (group A) and non-dulaglutide (group B) were compared using data collected from a computerized diabetes care database. For group B, propensity score weighting based on propensity scores was performed. Evaluation items were a change from baseline in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), body weight, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), for 3 years. RESULTS: In total, the data obtained from 255 patients (125 and 130 patients for group A and B, respectively) were analyzed. Propensity score-adjusted patient background characteristics (group A vs B) were age 70.8 vs 69.4 years, body weight 70.2 vs 72.9 kg, body mass index 27.3 vs 28.1 kg/m , HbA1c 8.4 vs 8.5%, eGFR 47.9 vs 47.7 mL/min/1.73 m , and UACR 218 vs 251 mg/gCr. Although there were no statistically significant differences in the change from baseline between groups A and B at most time points in eGFR, a statistically significant eGFR decline in group B was observed in slope analysis for 3 years. This renoprotective effect was marked in patients with macro-albuminuria and/or concomitant SGLT2 inhibitor use. CONCLUSIONS: Dulaglutide slowed the eGFR decline in patients with type 2 diabetes and CKD stage 3 to 4.