CLEVELAND, April 13 (UPI) -- Patients with type 2 diabetes treated with ace inhibitors benefit from a low dose of spironolactone, to help prevent kidney disease, say a U.S. study.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio say the preliminary findings suggest that patients with type 2 diabetes currently treated with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, or ace inhibitors, benefit from a low dose of spironolactone as an effective and safe method of decreasing albuminuria, a first sign of diabetic kidney disease.
Albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes confers a high risk of significant morbidity and mortality, including end-stage renal disease. While inhibition of aldosterone, a hormone released by the adrenal glands, has been previously demonstrated to decrease mortality in patients with heart failure, the data presented in this study support its emerging role in treating nephropathy in type 2 diabetes.
The findings will be presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Fifteenth annual meeting and Clinical Congress held April 26-30 in Chicago.
