Novo Nordisk’s FLOW trial began in 2019 and concluded in October 2023, one year earlier than expected, after efficacy was assessed.

This double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared injectable semaglutide (1.0 mg) with placebo as an adjunct treatment to standard care for chronic kidney disease.

The study followed 3,533 people from 28 countries with type 2 diabetes and moderate to severe kidney disease.

The results show that the semaglutide group slowed the progression of CKD and had a 24% lower risk of death from kidney and cardiovascular-related complications compared to the placebo group.

Dr. Pouya Shafipour, a board-certified family medicine and bariatric physician at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline that he was not surprised by the study’s results.

Shafipour noted recent positive data showing that GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy benefit kidney and heart function in patients with type 2 diabetes.

“I’ve been prescribing this class of drugs for several years and have seen great improvements in diabetes control. These drugs really help with addictive eating behaviors and help with weight loss.” , which helps people adhere to healthy, low-calorie eating habits.’Carbohydrate diets,’ he said.

“If we can use these drugs to reduce unhealthy carbohydrates, [and] Insulin secretion increases and carbohydrate metabolism improves. [while] Address eating behavior. “This is like a three-in-one mechanism,” he explained, noting how this can improve the health of other systems in the body.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic and is a GLP-1 type drug.

This class of drugs is widely prescribed for the management of obesity and diabetes because of their ability to regulate blood sugar and aid weight loss. Recent studies have also shown other health benefits, including reduced inflammation.

All of these factors can affect kidney function in people with diabetes, Shafipour said.

“When blood sugar levels become chronically elevated, whether due to genetic predisposition, poor eating habits, stress, sleep, or anything else that can cause insulin resistance, fat begins to accumulate in the liver, causing the body to function from head to toe. “Everything in your body gets sugar. It coats your nerves, your eyes, your kidneys, your stomach,” he said, noting that diabetes can take years to develop.

“That’s why it’s so important for people with diabetes to get their eyes checked and check their kidney function, because everything can be affected by this high level of blood sugar. Because it’s sexual.”

Shafipour explained that diabetes reduces the kidney’s filtration capacity, as measured by glomerular filtration rate (GFR). After that, albumin and proteins occur in the urine, followed by creatinine in the blood, which affect the body’s metabolic processes.

“What we’ve seen with this class of drugs is that they stabilize kidney function and prevent progression in people with diabetes,” he said. “And when people start losing weight, their blood pressure goes down and so does the pressure on their kidneys. Then creatinine starts going down again and GFR improves.”

However, Shafipour noted that people with severe kidney disease or with very low GFR may not see improvement with semaglutide-containing drugs.

“I have seen people with the following symptoms get better and better. [moderate] Kidney disease,” he said.

The kidneys contain millions of microscopic filters called nephrons.

Blood sugar levels rise in diabetes damage nephrons Blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, impairing their function and filtration process.

People with diabetes can also develop high blood pressure, which can lead to kidney damage.

“High blood pressure itself is one of the main causes of kidney disease,” Shafipour says.

“Many other things are at risk, such as inflammation, which is probably related to high levels of cortisol, an inflammatory marker. It’s a very complex process,” he noted.

A growing body of evidence shows that Ozempic and similar drugs are potentially beneficial in treating health conditions beyond obesity and diabetes.

Shafipour said GLP-1 drugs could soon be approved for heart disease and chronic kidney disease.

“We’re already seeing cardiologists recommending them for their positive effects on people with conditions such as heart disease and congestive heart failure,” he says.

“There are a number of chronic inflammatory conditions that cause insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome. We categorize all of these into individual conditions, each with subspecialties, but when you really look at the big picture, It turns out they’re all related.”

Novo Nordisk recently announced results from a new trial showing that Ozempic slows the progression of kidney disease-related events in patients with diabetes and CKD.

The results of this study, which have not yet been published, suggest that the clinical trial reduced the risk of death from kidney and cardiovascular death by 24%.

The company ended the FLOW trial a year early because of its proven efficacy.

The results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the GLP-1 class of semaglutide-containing drugs could be used to treat health conditions other than obesity and type 2 diabetes.