Anti-obesity drugs may not only help with weight loss but also have another benefit for transplant patients, suggests a new study. A new study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health found that kidney transplant recipients with type 2 diabetes treated with a new class of anti-obesity drugs were less likely to experience organ failure and survived longer. Obesity is a known factor for diabetes, and it also increases the risk of post-surgery complications such as inflammation, organ rejection, and early death.
The study is published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. Though previous research has found some of the benefits of the drugs in kidney transplant patients with a history of type 2 diabetes, there was less clarity on whether or not to prescribe these drugs, considering their side effects such as inflammation in the pancreas and liver issues. These GLP-1 agonists include semaglutide, liraglutide, and dulaglutide, now marketed as Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, Victoza, and Trulicity. There was also concern if the GLP-1 agonists would increase the risk for a rare form of thyroid cancer in patients who are on immune-suppressing drugs.
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The new study found that people prescribed GLP-1 agonists, mostly within three years of receiving their transplant, were 49% less likely to experience organ failure when the transplanted kidney stops functioning, and the patient has to resume dialysis, compared to those who had not taken these drugs.
The transplant recipients who took the medications also had a 31% reduced risk of dying within five years of their starting on the medication, compared to those who didn’t.
Researchers came to this conclusion after looking at medical records of 18,016 kidney transplant recipients with pretransplant diabetes in the United States between 2013 and 2020. 1,916 of them were prescribed GLP-1s.
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Though the new study found that these recipients did not have a higher risk of pancreas inflammation, liver problems, or thyroid cancer, however, they had a 49% higher chance of developing diabetic retinopathy, a serious eye condition that can lead to blindness if blood sugar levels are not balanced.
“Our study results are the strongest evidence to date that GLP-1 agonist drugs are largely safe and effective tools for addressing type 2 diabetes in kidney transplant recipients,” Babak Orandi, MD, PhD, the study lead investigator, transplant surgeon, and obesity medicine specialist said in a statement.
“Our research offers a large amount of real-world clinical data to guide the management of benefits and risks of GLP-1 use in kidney transplant recipients,” Orandi, an associate professor in the Departments of Surgery and Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine added.
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“Our findings also show that while the benefits of GLP-1 drugs are significant, their use does come with some added risk of diabetic retinopathy, suggesting that physicians need to carefully monitor the eye health of kidney transplant recipients with diabetes who are started on these drugs,” Mara McAdams-DeMarco, PhD, study’s senior investigator, epidemiologist, and associate professor in the Departments of Surgery and Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine said.
Type 2 diabetes is a major cause of end-stage kidney disease, which has caused nearly 250,000 Americans in need of a kidney transplant.
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