Liraglutide-induced acute kidney injury

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease characterised by insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction. It eventually leads to insulin deficiency and hyperglycaemia. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone playing a role in glucose homeostasis which is rapidly degraded and eliminated, because of a short half-life. Liraglutide is an acylated GLP-1 analogue with a prolonged half-life. It has a plasma half-life of 13 hours after subcutaneous administration. The side effects reported with liraglutide are gastrointestinal: mainly nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and heartburn. These effects are more frequent when starting on treatment and usually stop with persistent treatment with liraglutide. We present two type 2 diabetes patients who developed renal impairment after liraglutide therapy that reversed to normal after stopping the drug and adequate hydration. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons.