According to a study published online by the Journal of the American Society Nephrology, the drug appreciably lowers the amount of a protein called proteinuria, secreted in the urine. This protein is believed to be an important indicator of the diabetic kidney disease in the body, which is normally caused by uncontrolled diabetes.
The reduction in the amount of secreted protein is believed to be the effect of the drug, which makes it an effective means to slow the progression of the disease and help prevent the end stage disease.
The study was conducted in a double-blind, parallel-design trial of 286 patients with the diabetic kidney disease to investigate the effect of avosentan in reducing proteinuria.
Participants were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of treatment with avosentan at doses of 5, 10, 25, or 50 mg or placebo along with standard ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker therapy.
Rene R. Wenzel, MD, of the Paracelsus University in Salzburg, Austria, and his colleagues found that the drug inhibits the action of endothelin, a hormone that induces strong vasocontriction and stimulates the growth of vascular
define, cardiacdefine, and kidney cells. Thus, there was significant reduction of albuminuria even with lower doses of avosentan.
The researchers found that there was a decrease of 20.9 percent, 16.3 percent, 25 percent and 29.9 percent corresponding to a dosage of 5, 10, 25 and 50 mg respectively. They also observed an increase of 35.5 percent with the placebo (no drug).
However, the optimal dosage taking into account the risks and benefits came out to somewhere around 10 mg or below.
The researchers have also suggested a need for a larger clinical trial in order to confirm the study’s findings and to determine whether avosentan’s effects result in long-term benefits.
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