{"title":"Need for life cycle assessment of pharmaceuticals for kidney healthcare.","authors":"Kei Nagai, Keisuke Nansai","doi":"10.1007/s10157-025-02647-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Global warming is a known risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD), and both progression of the disease and its treatment place a burden on the environment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an established method for evaluating the global impact of manufactured products, from materials' procurement to disposal. We aimed to examine available reports of its application to pharmaceuticals.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A narrative review focused on LCA studies of any pharmaceuticals according to disease area.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified the drug types used for treatment of 13 disease areas described in 51 previous LCA studies, classified using the MIDAS database. Among the drug types, anesthetics, inhalants, and antibiotics have received the most attention. However, LCA studies are lacking for the wide range of pharmaceuticals used in kidney healthcare, in the fields of dialysis therapy, treatment of end-stage kidney disease, and associated cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine diseases.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>As the proportion of the population affected by CKD increases, there is a particular urgency for LCA research into drugs administered for their kidney protective effects, such as renin--angiotensin system inhibitors and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. As sustainable practices in drug production and the ability to identify and choose effective drugs with low environmental impact require comprehensive LCA data, clinical physicians and pharmacists involved in kidney healthcare should collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to develop an LCA research system . Incorporating rating of environmental burden of each drug into daily practice is desirable for achieving sustainable kidney healthcare and reducing its environmental impacts.</p>","PeriodicalId":10349,"journal":{"name":"Clinical and Experimental Nephrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical and Experimental Nephrology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-025-02647-2","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"UROLOGY & NEPHROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Global warming is a known risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD), and both progression of the disease and its treatment place a burden on the environment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an established method for evaluating the global impact of manufactured products, from materials' procurement to disposal. We aimed to examine available reports of its application to pharmaceuticals.
Methods: A narrative review focused on LCA studies of any pharmaceuticals according to disease area.
Results: We identified the drug types used for treatment of 13 disease areas described in 51 previous LCA studies, classified using the MIDAS database. Among the drug types, anesthetics, inhalants, and antibiotics have received the most attention. However, LCA studies are lacking for the wide range of pharmaceuticals used in kidney healthcare, in the fields of dialysis therapy, treatment of end-stage kidney disease, and associated cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine diseases.
Discussion: As the proportion of the population affected by CKD increases, there is a particular urgency for LCA research into drugs administered for their kidney protective effects, such as renin--angiotensin system inhibitors and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. As sustainable practices in drug production and the ability to identify and choose effective drugs with low environmental impact require comprehensive LCA data, clinical physicians and pharmacists involved in kidney healthcare should collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to develop an LCA research system . Incorporating rating of environmental burden of each drug into daily practice is desirable for achieving sustainable kidney healthcare and reducing its environmental impacts.
期刊介绍：
Clinical and Experimental Nephrology is a peer-reviewed monthly journal, officially published by the Japanese Society of Nephrology (JSN) to provide an international forum for the discussion of research and issues relating to the study of nephrology. Out of respect for the founders of the JSN, the title of this journal uses the term “nephrology,” a word created and brought into use with the establishment of the JSN (Japanese Journal of Nephrology, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1960). The journal publishes articles on all aspects of nephrology, including basic, experimental, and clinical research, so as to share the latest research findings and ideas not only with members of the JSN, but with all researchers who wish to contribute to a better understanding of recent advances in nephrology. The journal is unique in that it introduces to an international readership original reports from Japan and also the clinical standards discussed and agreed by JSN.
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