GLP-1 RA Use Tied to Better Kidney Transplant Outcomes in Patients With Diabetes

TUESDAY, March 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) use is associated with better graft and patient survival among kidney transplant recipients with diabetes, according to a study published online March 5 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Babak J. Orandi, M.D., Ph.D., from New York University in New York City, and colleagues examined the real-world safety and effectiveness of GLP-1 RA use in kidney transplant recipients with diabetes. The analysis included 18,016 kidney transplant recipients with diabetes (2013 through 2020) covered by Medicare, of whom 10.9 percent had at least one GLP-1 RA prescription filled posttransplant.

The researchers found that the five-year unadjusted cumulative incidence of death-censored graft loss from a cohort matched on survival time before GLP-1 RA initiation was 6.0 percent for GLP-1 RA users and 10.7 percent for nonusers. Based on a cohort matched on survival time before GLP-1 RA initiation, the five-year unadjusted cumulative incidence for mortality was 17.0 percent for GLP-1 RA users and 25.8 percent for nonusers. Use of GLP-1 RAs was associated with lower incidence of death-censored graft loss (adjusted subhazard ratio, 0.51) and lower mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.69). GLP-1 RA use was not associated with safety end points, with the exception of diabetic retinopathy (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.49).

“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,” Orandi said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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