Bariatric Surgery's Impact on Diabetic Kidney Disease in Severely Obese Teens

After bariatric surgery, severely obese teens with type 2 diabetes experienced a dramatic decrease in the rate of diabetic kidney disease, revealed study published online in Diabetes Care by researchers at Children's Hospital Colorado (Children's Colorado).

Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of kidney failure in the nation, and its occurrence in youth with type 2 diabetes is rapidly rising.

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‘Bariatric surgery was found to lower diabetic kidney disease risk for severely obese teens with type 2 diabetes. ’

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"Diabetic kidney disease is increasing in prevalence each year as more and more people develop type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, youth-onset type 2 diabetes is much more aggressive than adult-onset type 2 diabetes, meaning adolescent patients have significantly higher rates of complications like diabetic kidney disease," said Petter Bjornstad, MD, an endocrinologist at Children's Colorado and lead author of the study.

"Our current treatment options for these patients are suboptimal, and novel therapies are needed. With this study, we've been able to demonstrate for the first time that surgical treatment substantially lowers the odds of diabetic kidney disease for severely obese youth with type 2 diabetes compared to medical therapy."

In the study, Bjornstad and colleagues compared diabetic kidney disease rates among two cohorts of patients over a period of five years. The patients were participants in one of two multi-center studies led by researchers at Children's Colorado: Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) and Treatment Options of Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY). Specifically, the two groups included:

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63 TODAY participants, all of whom had received medical treatment for type 2 diabetes

30 Teen-LABS participants, all of whom underwent bariatric surgery and had type 2 diabetes at the time of surgery

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Major findings of the five-year outcomes study included:

The Teen-LABS study saw a 3% decrease in hyperfiltration over five years in participating adolescents, whereas TODAY participants saw a 41% increase. (With hyperfiltration, an early marker of diabetic kidney disease, the kidneys filter the blood at an abnormally high rate. Over time, hyperfiltration has been linked with progression of kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes.)

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Teen-LABS participants saw a 22% decrease in elevated urinary albumin excretion (UAE) - or elevated protein levels in their urine, a key marker of kidney damage; TODAY participants had up to 27-fold greater odds of elevated UAE.

Teen-LABS participants experienced a 23% decrease in high blood pressure; TODAY participants showed a 40% increase.

"While this study is incredibly promising, the initial cost and risks related to bariatric surgery should always be carefully considered."

Source-Eurekalert