A CLINICAL trial has demonstrated that an existing constipation drug called lubiprostone helps slow the progression of chronic kidney disease, a Japanese research team said. The finding, published in the US journal Science Advances on Saturday, marks the first time the drug’s effect of maintaining renal function in humans has been demonstrated. About one in eight adults in Japan is estimated to have chronic kidney disease. If the disease progresses, artificial dialysis may become necessary, but no drug is available to improve kidney function. Tohoku University professor Takaaki Abe and his colleagues in the team hypothesized that constipation, common among chronic kidney disease patients, disrupts the intestinal environment, thereby reducing renal function. In a clinical trial from 2016 to 2019, the team divided 118 patients with moderate to severe decline in kidney function into a group administered with the drug and a placebo group, monitoring both for 24 weeks.