Novel Anti-inflammatory and Anti-fibrotic Agents for Diabetic Kidney Disease—From Bench to Bedside

Chronic low-grade inflammation, now coined by the new paradigm as “metaflammation” or “metainflammation”, has been linked to chronic kidney disease and its progression. In diabetes, altered metabolism denotes factors associated with the metabolic syndrome and hyperglycemia, among others. The interplay among hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, and inflammation in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has been broadly explored. Identification of mediators of inflammatory processes involving macrophage infiltration, production of inflammasomes, release of cytokines, and activation of pertinent signaling pathways including mitogen-activated protein kinase, Jun N-terminal kinase, Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway (JAK/STAT), and apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 signaling mechanisms have enabled the development of therapeutic agents for DKD. This review describes the evidence supporting the contribution of the inflammatory response and fibrotic changes and focuses on selected, novel, promising drugs as well as repurposed drugs that have made it to phase 2, 3, or 4 of clinical trials in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and their potential to become an important part of our armamentarium to improve the management of DKD. Importantly, drugs that solely target inflammatory processes may be insufficient to fully optimize care of patients with DKD because of the complex nature of the disease.