Inquiry into the short- and long-term effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on the glomerular filtration rate

Bariatric surgery is known to attenuate glomerular hyperfiltration over the long term and thereby protect the kidney from mechanical damage. Whether this effect is directly related to weight loss or is independent of weight as are some of its other beneficial metabolic effects is not known. We explored this question in a preliminary study that directly measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) before, immediately after, and again many months after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass after large weight loss had occurred. We simultaneously measured stimulated circulating glucagon-like peptide-1, which is upregulated after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and is a putative mediator of GFR after bariatric surgery. We found no weight-independent effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on GFR nor an association between circulating GLP-1 levels and GFR. These findings, if confirmed in larger studies, will help steer future enquiries in this area.