More than half of obese patients with diabetic nephropathy had resolution of the condition following bariatric surgery, a small retrospective study showed.
In the subgroup of diabetic patients without nephropathy, 25 percent developed albuminuria during more than 5 years of follow-up after weight-loss surgery. Additionally, three-fourths of the 52 patients had resolution or improvement in diabetic status, as reported here at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
“Findings of this study suggest that bariatric surgery can induce significant improvement in diabetic nephropathy,” said Helen Heneghan, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “This is an effect that appears to be durable, lasting at least five years in a majority of patients, and is associated with good glycemic and hypertension control, even without the use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB).”
