Nephroprotective Effects of Semaglutide as Mono- and Combination Treatment with Lisinopril in a Mouse Model of Hypertension-Accelerated Diabetic Kidney Disease

Background: Obesity, hyperglycemia and hypertension are critical risk factors for development of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Emerging evidence suggests that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists improve cardiovascular and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes patients. Here, we characterized the effect of the long-acting GLP-1R agonist semaglutide alone and in combination with an ACE inhibitor (lisinopril) in a model of hypertension-accelerated, advanced DKD facilitated by adeno-associated virus-mediated renin overexpression (ReninAAV) in uninephrectomized (UNx) female diabetic db/db mice. Methods: Female db/db mice received a single intravenous injection of ReninAAV 1 week prior to UNx. Six weeks post-nephrectomy, db/db UNx-ReninAAV mice were administered (q.d.) vehicle, semaglutide (30 nmol/kg, s.c.) or semaglutide (30 nmol/kg, s.c.) + lisinopril (30 mg/kg, p.o.) for 11 weeks. Endpoints included blood pressure, plasma/urine biochemistry, kidney histopathology and RNA sequencing. Results: Vehicle-dosed db/db UNx-ReninAAV mice developed hallmarks of DKD characterized by severe albuminuria and advanced glomerulosclerosis. Semaglutide robustly reduced hyperglycemia, hypertension and albuminuria concurrent with notable improvements in glomerulosclerosis severity, podocyte filtration slit density, urine/renal kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) levels and gene expression markers of inflammation and fibrogenesis in db/db UNx-ReninAAV mice. Co-administration of lisinopril further ameliorated hypertension and glomerulosclerosis. Conclusions: Semaglutide improves disease hallmarks in the db/db UNx-ReninAAV mouse model of advanced DKD. Further benefits on renal outcomes were obtained by adjunctive antihypertensive standard of care. Collectively, our study supports the development of semaglutide for management of DKD.