Semaglutide for treatment of obesity in hemodialysis patients waiting for a kidney transplant: new hope?

Obesity limits the access to kidney transplantation and increases the risk of complications and mortality posttransplantation. Usual noninvasive measures, including lifestyle changes and dietary education, do not provide long-term and consistent body weight reduction. In many cases, only bariatric surgery allows patients to significantly reduce body weight. We here report two cases of obese hemodialysis (HD) patients who were successfully treated with off-labeled semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide receptor agonist (GLP-1RA). The first patient had a body mass index (BMI) of 45.7 kg/m despite a history of partial gastrectomy. The second patient had a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus and a BMI of 36.5 kg/m. Both patients started semaglutide at the maximal subcutaneous dose of 1 mg/week, which was clinically well tolerated. During the 9-month follow-up, body weight loss ranged from 6.5 to 9.0 kg, ∼1 kg/month. GLP-1RAs, such as semaglutide or liraglutide, could be a novel pharmacological alternative to bariatric surgeries for these HD patients.