Wim Scheele, Susan Diamond, Jeremy Gale, Valerie Clerin, Nihad Tamimi, Vu Le, Rosalind Walley, Fernando Grover-Páez, Christelle Perros-Huguet, Timothy Rolph, Meguid El Nahas
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of ESRD worldwide. Reduced bioavailability or uncoupling of nitric oxide in the kidney, leading to decreased intracellular levels of the nitric oxide pathway effector molecule cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), has been implicated in the progression of DN. Preclinical studies suggest that elevating the cGMP intracellular pool through inhibition of the cGMP-hydrolyzing enzyme phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) might exert renoprotective effects in DN. To test this hypothesis, the novel, highly specific, and long-acting PDE5 inhibitor, PF-00489791, was assessed in a multinational, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial of subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and overt nephropathy receiving angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker background therapy...
November 2016: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: JASN