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| |  ASH: Irbesartan Slows Kidney Disease In Diabetics By Lynn Haley Special to DG News
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- May 20, 2001 -- The hypertensive drug irbesartan can provide significant renal protection against kidney disease in patients with high blood pressure (BP) and Type II diabetes, according to researchers from the Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Centre in Chicago. The findings were presented at a news conference at the 16th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension held here May 15th-19th. Dr. Edmund Lewis, director of nephrology at Rush, and lead investigator of the Irbesartan Diabetic Nephropathy Trial (IDNT), told reporters that irbesartan can protect these patients against the progression of kidney disease or death by 20 percent (p=0.02) versus placebo, and 23 percent (p=0.006) versus amlodipine. Dr. Lewis said the drug is not only an excellent BP drug for patients with diabetes and hypertension, more importantly, it protects their kidneys from damage independent of its effect on BP. "For physicians, we now have a drug that slows the progression of kidney disease, and delays or prevents the need for dialysis or transplantation," he said. Hypertensive patients with diabetes face major medical problems, particularly kidney disease, say researchers. Investigators studied 1,715 men and women between the ages of 30 and 70 years who suffered from high BP and Type II diabetes in a multi-centre, double-blind placebo controlled study. The purpose of the study was to compare irbesartan with the calcium channel blocker amlodipine, and a placebo group given antihypyertensive medication for BP control. Researchers found that irbesartan reduced the risk of progressive kidney disease such as the halving of renal function, or the need for dialysis or transplant, by 26 percent compared to placebo, and by 34 percent over amlodipine. In patients taking irbesartan, serum creatnine levels, considered a marker for kidney disease, rose more slowly than patients in the placebo arm. Monitoring of proteinuria throughout the study showed a significant reduction in the irbesartan group, but not in the amlodipine or placebo groups. Irbesartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker, a class of drug that can block the renal angiotensin system, which has been shown to be effective in slowing the progression of both kidney and cardiovascular disease in Type 1 diabetics with high BP. Type II diabetes affects approximately 200 million around the world. About 50 percent of these patients will develop kidney disease, the most common cause of chronic renal failure leading to dialysis or transplantation. In the US alone, the cost of dialysis for one patient is approximately US$68,000 a year. "Since irbesartan can prevent or delay the progression of kidney disease, dialysis or kidney transplantation, treating patients with this therapy can save lives and improve quality of life," said Dr. Lewis. "It can also lead to an enormous reduction in health care costs. It is important to test all people with diabetes for any evidence of kidney disease, and based on this study, these patients should be placed on irbesartan as their kidney medicine."
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