Proton pump inhibitors use tied to accelerated renal risk among CKD patients, suggests study

Although Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) were widely prescribed for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, there were numerous studies about PPIs and adverse renal outcomes. Most evidence was to evaluate the risk of PPIs in patients with normal renal function and the absence of moderate to advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD).

This study focuses on the accelerated progression of renal function following proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) use, and the increased risks of acute kidney injury (AKI) among moderate to advanced CKD (pre-ESRD) patients.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted by including adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3b to 5 who initiated PPI or H2 blocker (H2B) therapy between 2011 and 2018. The risk of renal events was assessed using the Cox proportional hazard model to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Sensitivity analyses were performed, including propensity score matching, as-treated analysis, and subgroup analysis.

Results: The cohort comprised 83,432 pre-ESRD patients, with 5,138 treated with H2B and 1,051 with PPIs. The progression to ESRD was significantly more likely in patients using PPIs compared to those using H2B (adjusted HR, 1.495; 95% CI: 1.198–1.867). Specifically, omeprazole (adjusted HR, 1.784; 95% CI: 1.079–2.951) and esomeprazole (adjusted HR, 1.847; 95% CI: 1.332–2.561) were associated with a notably higher risk of ESRD and AKI. The study highlights the significance of the accelerated renal risk, especially for moderate to advanced CKD patients, when prescribing PPIs and implicates the clinicians prescribed PPIs and H2B in pre-ESRD patients.

Reference:

Huang, CH., Tsai, CJ., Su, CC. et al. Accelerated risk of renal disease progression in pre-ESRD patients with proton pump inhibitors use: a nationwide population-based study. BMC Nephrol 25, 469 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-024-03867-6