Tirzepatide's benefits extend to Kidney Disease

The list of benefits of using GLP1 Receptor Agonists continues to increase. Mounjaro and Zepbound are brand names for a peptide called Tirzepatide, which is one of the most effective GLP1s on the market today.

The positive effects we're examining today are some of the same ones most people already know – weight loss, reductions to Hba1c, but with a new focus: Kidney Disease.

The study is tiny, but the pre and post Tirzepatide metrics speak for themselves:

How was Tirzepatide's effect on kidney disease checked?

A recent published study dug into the link between

Tirzepatide Prescribing Practices and Efficacy in Patients with Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease at a Large Tertiary Care Center in the United States - PubMed

We found that tirzepatide was an effective therapy with significant benefits on glycemic control, blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight in subjects with diabetes and chronic kidney disease treated at a tertiary care facility.

PubMedSriya Amruta Kosaraju

While this probably isn't a surprise to researchers or those that know much about GLP1s (given it's effects), it's always good to see expectations bear out in studies and proper research.

This study found some amazing results, just with regards to weight loss:

Tirzepatide use led to a significant reduction in hemoglobin A1c by 1.15%, weight by nearly 10%, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol (p<0.05 for all).

Since Tirzepatide was effective in getting these outcomes for patients, they concluded that it was excellent in helping with Kidney disease:

We found that tirzepatide was an effective therapy with significant benefits on glycemic control, blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight in subjects with diabetes and chronic kidney disease treated at a tertiary care facility.

The part highlighted above is how we get to the benefits on kidney disease – Tirzepatide performing it's known benefit of reducing Hba1c and body weight benefits those dealing with kidney disease.

Also important to keep in mind is that Tirzepatide has been found to be more effective at this than Semaglutide, with higher cost-effectiveness for those that can afford it:

Short-term cost-effectiveness analysis of tirzepatide for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in the United States - PubMed

<span><b>BACKGROUND:</b> Tirzepatide is a novel once-a-week dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist that is used as an addition to diet and exercise to improve blood glucose in adults with type 2 diabetes. It is the first dual glucagon-like peptide-1</span> …

PubMedXiaotong Zhang

Is this study trust-worthy?

While the study has results in line with what one might expect given the effects of Tirzepatide and GLP1s in general, there are a few reasons why we might hesitate to rely on this study too heavily in making inferences.

• No peer review
• The study was limited in geographic region (only St. Louis, Missouri)
• The study was very small (only 102 patients)
• There was no control group, so it's hard to isolate effects

While there are many reasons to be critical of this study, the benefits showcased in Tirzepatide use are in line with many other studies, and research around GLP1s.

What are the negative effects?

While keeping track of the positive effects of GLP1s is great, keeping track of the negative side effects are even more important.

Are GLP1 side effects all the same?

Do some GLP1s have less negative side effects? They work the same, but can affect you differently -- let’s look at the research.

GLP1 GuideGLP1.Guide Staff

In the last 6 months there have not been dramatic new discoveries of widespread negative side effects, which is great news, but it's important to keep watch.

One of the great things about the current zeitgeist and popularity of GLP1s is that along with the research data we are able to collect and hear fairly quickly about "anecdata" (anecdotal data) which can guide science or at least serve as a slight early warning system.

What could change as a result of this research?

This research is part of the growing list of evidence that GLP1 Receptor Agonists bring about positive medical outcomes for people with minimal side effects.

Unfortunately, right now it is still difficult to get insurance providers to properly cover GLP1, most providers are doing all that they can to avoid covering the drugs, mostly due to expense:

GLP1s increasingly not covered by insurance?

Insurance companies should love the benefits GLP1s, but instead they are removing it from coverage at alarming rates, often due to cost.

GLP1 GuideGLP1.Guide Staff

While it is currently hard to get providers to cover GLP1s, it is much easier to force them to consider GLP1s if the evidence of GLP1s being effective at lessening the burden for common health problems continues to increase.

With the success many patients are seeing, more and more doctors will find it necessary to recommend GLP1s as solutions, and as such insurance companies will likely be forced to reconsider coverage, as the legitimate benefits are much more than just a popular weight-loss fad.