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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
A new study finds that mildly elevated blood ketone levels may help protect the kidneys in people with type 2 diabetes. Patients with the highest ketone levels were 37% less likely to experience a major adverse kidney event compared to those with the lowest levels. The sweet spot? Ketone levels around 300–400 µmol/L appeared to offer the greatest protection.
A new study published in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice suggests that mildly elevated blood ketone levels may offer kidney protection for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Researchers tracked nearly 1,400 clinically stable T2D patients not on insulin or thiazolidinediones for a median of about two years, measuring their fasting ketone levels and monitoring for kidney and cardiovascular events.
Patients with the highest ketone levels were 37% less likely to experience a major adverse kidney event (MAKE) — including macroalbuminuria, significant eGFR decline, or end-stage kidney disease — compared to those with the lowest levels. Among patients with preserved kidney function at baseline, the risk of developing chronic kidney disease was cut in half.
By the numbers:
Why it matters: These findings position circulating ketone bodies as potential biomarkers for kidney risk in T2D — though researchers caution this is associative, not causal. Still, it opens the door to new ways of identifying high-risk patients earlier.
