NKF Sponsors Workshop to Examine New Therapy for Diabetic Kidney Disease

June 27, 2019, New York, NY – Nearly 80 nephrologists, cardiologists, diabetologists, patients and policy makers will gather in Chicago this week to share information about a human protein called sodium-glucose contransporter-2 (SGLT2), its role in diabetic kidney disease and how a new drug class called SGLT2 inhibitors can help.

 

The two-day, scientific workshop titled “The Role of the Kidney and SGLT2 in Glucose Homeostasis and Kidney Disease” is hosted by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and will begin with a series of presentations on emerging science and review of clinical trials.

 

Diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common and complex disorders, which often co-exist, and each are associated with multiple comorbid conditions and higher risk for mortality. SGLTs are proteins that transport glucose and a SGLT2 gene mutation can result in a rare disorder of familial renal glucosuria. SGLT2 inhibition is a new therapy for kidney disease, particularly related to diabetic kidney disease.

 

The healthcare professionals, representatives of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and patients attending the workshop will discuss a number of topics that include: the pathogeneses of kidney damage in diabetes; improving testing for kidney dysfunction in patients with diabetes; what is known about the role SGLT2 plays in glucose homeostasis; how the medications SGLT2 inhibitors impact cardiovascular and heart failure risk in patients with diabetes; and how SGLT2 inhibitors impact kidney function; among other topics.

 

“Overall, I’m genuinely excited about the SGLT2 inhibitor drug class,” said Joseph Vassalotti, MD, NKF Chief Medical Officer. “I think these drugs are a breakthrough for people living with type-2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease, because they offer both kidney and cardio-protection.”

 

The participants at the workshop will break into groups after the main presentations to take a deeper dive into the questions the presentations raise. A summary of the breakout group discussions will be reported back to the full assembly with a consensus building process to formulate the final conference recommendations.

 

The conference chairs, Viado Perkovic,  MB, BS, PhD, of the George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales Sydney; and Katherine Tuttle, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle; and the breakout group leaders will publish a position statement summarizing the results of the workshop.

 

NKF sponsors workshops every year that help move the needle toward the goals of eliminating preventable CKD, eliminate the kidney transplant waitlist and ensure that dialysis patients have full, productive and functional lives.

 

Healthcare professionals can join NKF to receive access to tools and resources for both patients and professionals, discounts on professional education, and access to a network of thousands of individuals who treat patients with kidney disease. 

 

In the United States 37 million adults are estimated to have chronic kidney disease—and most aren’t aware of it.  1 in 3 American adults are at risk for chronic kidney disease.  Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and family history.  People of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease.  African Americans are 3 times more likely than Whites, and Hispanics are nearly 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to develop end stage kidney disease (kidney failure).