Effect of dual compared to no or single renin-angiotensin system blockade on risk of renal replacement therapy or death in predialysis patients: PREPARE-2 study.

Current guidelines on hypertension treatment in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients discourage combined angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) and angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) use due to the risk of an increased kidney function decline. However, dual compared to single renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade may have more efficacy with regard to hypertension and proteinuria. Among incident predialysis patients (CKD 4-5), we compared dual with no or single RAS blockade regarding kidney function decline and risk of renal replacement therapy (RRT) or death. In a multicenter cohort study, 495 incident predialysis patients (>18 years) were included between 2004 and 2011 and followed until RRT, death, or October 2016. At baseline, patients were divided into four categories: nonuser, single or dual user of ACEi and/or ARB. Cox models were used to estimate the hazard ratio for the combined end point RRT or death. Differences in decline of kidney function among the four drug groups were compared with a linear mixed model. A total of 119 patients were nonusers, 164 ACEi users, 133 ARB users, and 79 dual RAS users. Compared to nonusers, the multivariable adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for the combined end point was 0.75 (0.65 to 0.86) for ACEi users, 0.87 (0.76 to 1.00) for ARB users, and 0.79 (0.67 to 0.94) for dual RAS users. The average annual decline in kidney function did not differ among the four groups. We observed in predialysis patients that compared to no RAS blockade, both dual RAS blockade and single ACEi use were associated with about 20%-25% lower risk of RRT or death, without difference in kidney function decline.