Atrasentan for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the most potent vasoconstrictor, and is involved in the renal regulation of salt and water homeostasis. When produced in excess in the kidney, ET-1 promotes proteinuria and tubulointerstitial injury. There is great interest in the clinical use of endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs) in chronic kidney disease (CKD), mainly in diabetic nephropathy (DN).Areas covered: Physiopathological actions of ET-1 on the kidney. Both dual ETAR/ETBR (bosentan) or ETAR specific endothelin antagonists (avosentan and atrasentan, among others), which have progressed to early clinical development, with particular emphasis on atrasentan.Expert opinion: Different phase I and II clinical trials with ERAs in DN, mostly with atrasentan, have shown that these drugs have a marked anti-proteinuric effect on residual proteinuria when administered as add-on therapy in addition to ACEi or ARAII treatment. In the past few years, a series of randomized controlled trials investigating new appr...