Proton pump inhibitors, which are commonly prescribed for heartburn, acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease, may increase the risk of developing kidney disease, according to a study in Scientific Reports.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego searched the DA Adverse Effect Reporting System database and identified around 43,000 patients who took PPIs and no other medications. They compared the PPI population to a control group of approximately 8,000 patients who took histamine-2 receptor blockers and no other medications.
The study shows that patients who took only PPIs reported a kidney-related adverse reaction at a frequency of 5.6 percent, as compared to patients who took only histamine-2 receptor antagonists and reported a kidney-related adverse reaction at a frequency of 0.7 percent. Patients who took only PPIs were 28.4 times more likely to report chronic kidney disease, as well as 35.5 times more likely to report end-stage renal disease and 4.2 times more likely to report acute kidney injury versus the control group.
Researchers do caution, however, that the increase in likelihood of kidney disease is due to unidentified confounding factors. Additionally, they note that since reporting into the FAERS database is voluntary, the study's results may not represent the absolute frequency of kidney-related adverse reaction reports.