Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Orlistat use in CKD patients is associated with a risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to oxalate nephropathy, requiring monitoring of urinary oxalate.
If you have CKD, be cautious with Orlistat. It can increase oxalate levels in your urine, which may lead to kidney stones or kidney injury (AKI/ESRD). Monitor your kidney function closely if you use it, and discuss safer alternatives like GLP-1 agonists with your doctor.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Numerous case and cohort reports link orlistat to AKI or ESRD, presumably through the development of secondary oxalate nephropathy... estimated the incidence of AKI from orlistat to be 1.4% within a year of commencing the drug, whereas others have reported rates as high as 18% in individuals with preexisting CKD.
Why this rating
Based on case/cohorts reports and retrospective studies, not large RCTs.
Source
Obesity and Kidney Disease
Csaba P. Kövesdy et al. · Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease · 2017
DOI 10.1177/2054358117698669
narrative_reviewCited 194×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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