• Matthew F Blum, Aditya Surapaneni, Alexander Chang, Lesley A Inker, Teresa K Chen, Lawrence J Appel, Jung-Im Shin, and Morgan E Grams.
• Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA. mblum@medicine.wisc.edu.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Aug 1; 39 (10): 188018861880-1886.

BackgroundEarly trials of dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (DCCBs) suggest a detrimental effect on intraglomerular pressure and an association with albuminuria.ObjectiveWe sought to evaluate the associations of DCCB initiation with albuminuria and kidney failure with replacement therapy (KFRT) and to determine whether renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade modified these associations.DesignWe conducted a target trial emulation study using a new user, active comparator design and electronic health record data from Geisinger Health.ParticipantsWe included patients without severe albuminuria or KFRT who were initiated on a DCCB or thiazide (active comparator) between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2019.Main MeasuresUsing inverse probability of treatment weighting, we performed doubly robust Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the association of DCCB initiation with incident severe albuminuria (urine albumin to creatinine ratio > 300 mg/g) and KFRT, overall and stratified by RAS blocker use.Key ResultsThere were 11,747 and 26,758 eligible patients initiating a DCCB and thiazide, respectively, with a weighted baseline mean age of 60 years, systolic blood pressure of 143 mm Hg, and eGFR of 86 mL/min/1.73 m2, and with a mean follow-up of 8 years. Compared with thiazides, DCCBs were significantly associated with the development of severe albuminuria (hazard ratio [HR], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-1.43), with attenuation of risk in the presence of RAS blockade (P for interaction < 0.001). The risk of KFRT was increased among patients without RAS blockade (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.19-2.31), but not with RAS blockade (P for interaction = 0.005).ConclusionsDCCBs were associated with increased risk of albuminuria and, in the absence of RAS blockade, KFRT. These findings suggest coupling DCCB therapy with RAS blockade may mitigate adverse kidney outcomes.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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