The antidiabetes drug, Rosiglitazone, may prove its efficacy for protecting kidney function in patient suffering from a complication called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).
The finding was disclosed in a study that appeared in the January 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).
From News-Medical.Net:
The investigators studied 11 patients with FSGS whose condition had not responded to previous treatment with steroids and other immunosuppressive drugs. Patients ranged from ages 2 to 28 years. Because a phase I trial is a preliminary study done before an agent’s effectiveness is measured, the researchers focused on determining the safety and appropriate dosing of rosiglitazone in patients enrolled in the study.
Patients receiving rosiglitazone at a dose of three mg/m2 per day for 16 weeks experienced no serious adverse effects, including no cardiovascular complications that have been associated with rosiglitazone in other studies.
The investigators also evaluated patients’ total exposure over time to rosiglitazone - in other words, how much and how long the drug stays in the body. They assessed whether certain clinical parameters such as urinary protein excretion, blood levels of the protein albumin, and kidney filtration rate might affect the drug’s activity. They also looked to see if demographic factors including age, pubertal status, and body surface area had any effects. Serum albumin and kidney filtration had significant effects on the body’s exposure to rosiglitazone. Other clinical parameters and demographic factors did not seem to play a role.
Howard Trachtman, MD, at the Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York and his colleagues designed a phase I clinical trial in patients with this condition as the part of a strategy aimed at developing antifibrotic therapies for FSGS.
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