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Current Vascular Pharmacology

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ISSN (Print): 1570-1611
ISSN (Online): 1875-6212

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Perspectives in vascular pharmacology

What Does the Future Hold for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis?

Author(s): Michael Doumas, Konstantinos Imprialos, Konstantinos Stavropoulos and Vasilios G. Athyros*

Volume 17, Issue 5, 2019

Page: [425 - 428] Pages: 4

DOI: 10.2174/157016111705190703102816

Abstract

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), the most common liver disease, is characterized by accumulation of fat (>5% of the liver tissue), in the absence of alcohol abuse or other chronic liver diseases. Its prevalence is increasing because of obesity, metabolic syndrome or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). NAFLD can cause liver inflammation and progress to Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis or Hepatocellular Cancer (HCC). Nevertheless, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in NAFLD/NASH patients. Current guidelines suggest the use of pioglitazone both in patients with T2DM and in those without.

The newer antidiabetic drugs such as Glucagon Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RA), Sodium-Glucose co- Transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), and statins plus ezetimibe, are considered safe by the guidelines, and may have a beneficial effect on NAFLD/NASH as well as Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality.

Future drugs seem to have a potential for holding down the evolution of NAFLD and reduce liver- and CVD-related morbidity and mortality, but they will take some years to be approved for routine use.

Until then pioglitazone, GLP-1 RA, SGLT2i, and statins plus ezetimibe, especially in combination might be useful for treating the huge number of patients with NAFLD/NASH.

Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), perspective, statins, ezetimibe, pioglitazone, GLP1 RA, SGLT2i.

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