PPIs and Kidney Disease: What are the Risks?

Patients who use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are more likely to develop chronic kidney disease (CKD) than nonusers, according to new research.

PPIs are one of the most commonly used drugs and are known to cause kidney damage. However, little is known about whether PPIs can cause CKD.
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To conduct their study, researchers followed 10,482 patients without CKD who self-reported their PPI use in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study from 1996 to 2011. Researchers determined the frequency of patients developing CKD by analyzing hospital diagnostic codes used when discharging patients or at the time of death.

Results showed that 14% of patients without CKD at baseline developed the disease at the 14-year follow-up. Those who reported using PPIs were more likely to have CKD at follow-up than nonusers (14.2 vs. 10.7 events per 1000 person-years).

Researchers replicated these findings in a 248,751-patient administrative cohort from the Geisinger Health System.

“PPI use is associated with a higher risk of incident CKD,” researchers concluded. “Future research should evaluate whether limiting PPI use reduces the incidence of CKD.”

--Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Lazarus B, Chen Y, Wilson FP, et al. Proton pump inhibitor use and the risk of chronic kidney disease. JAMA Intern Med. Published online January 11, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.7193.