ASN Kidney Week offered latest on research and impact of COVID-19
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
It is 1 week of the year when the international nephrology community gathers to present and learn about the latest information in pharmacological advances, technology and policy issues that affect kidney care.
And presenters at ASN Kidney Week, held Nov. 4 to 7 in a virtual format, reminded thousands of attendees from around the world that the battle with COVID-19 among patients with kidney disease was far from over.
“We know now from studies that have been conducted during this outbreak of something about the pathophysiology of COVID-19-associated acute kidney disease, where more than 25% of patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19 have developed AKI,” Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH, said during an opening session on the pandemic. Sanjay Gupta, MD, a neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for cable news channel CNN, moderated the panel of speakers, including Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, dean of the school of public health at Brown University. Jha spoke about the increased risk that patients with kidney disease, along with other vulnerable populations, face in the pandemic.
“We can’t get through this pandemic until we have the whole world vaccinated,” Jha said. “We have to focus on people with chronic diseases, people who are vulnerable, people with cardiovascular disease, people with [chronic kidney disease] CKD; particularly people who are high risk. If we begin there, even if we don’t get everybody vaccinated immediately, we’re going to dramatically lower mortality and suffering from this virus.”
Late-breaking trials
ASN Kidney Week included updates on new pharmacotherapy for kidney patients.
Presentations included the following findings:
- Bardoxolone methyl increases eGFR compared with placebo, researchers from the University of Michigan found. The investigational drug preserved kidney function in patients and provided eGFR benefits for those with CKD;
- Dapagliflozin significantly slowed the rate of kidney decline in patients with CKD compared with placebo, with even greater improvement seen in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to data presented at ASN Kidney Week. “In both subgroups, dapagliflozin causes an acute decline in eGFR at week 2. The difference is slightly larger in patients with type 2 diabetes. In both subgroups, dapagliflozin slowed the rate of kidney function decline from week 2 until end of treatment,” Hiddo J. L. Heerspink, PhD, PharmD, said during his presentation;
- Pegloticase was safe and effective in phase 4 trials for uncontrolled gout in kidney transplant patients, investigators from the Baylor College of Medicine reported. Pegloticase decreased serum urate in patients with uncontrolled gout who previously received a kidney transplant and were treated with more than one immunosuppressive therapy to protect against organ rejection. Co-author Abdul A. Abdellatif, MD, and colleagues described the effects of pegloticase on serum urate levels as “substantial.”
Virtual meeting
When ASN decided to move the meeting from a hybrid format to fully virtual, ASN President Susan E. Quaggin, MD, expressed her regrets. “While we are all disappointed not to have the opportunity to see old and new friends and colleagues in person, several key points made the decision straightforward,” she said, including the risk of the COVID-19 delta variant and U.S. travel restrictions.
“Kidney Week is a celebration of the best advances in kidney science and clinical practice from around the world; a meeting without our international partners on site would have created inequities,” Quaggin said.
- References:
- www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20211123/dapagliflozin-significantly-slows-rate-of-kidney-decline-in-patients-with-ckd.
- www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20211104/fauci-asn-panelists-encourage-patients-with-ckd-to-get-covid19-booster-vaccine.
- www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20211107/new-data-show-empagliflozin-slows-gfr-maintains-ejection-fraction-in-ckd-heart-failure.
- https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20211118/pegloticase-seen-as-safe-and-effective-for-uncontrolled-gout-in-kidney- transplant-patients.
- For more information:
- Mark E. Neumann is the editor-in-chief of Nephrology News & Issues and can be reached at mneumann@healio.com.