Glucose-Lowering Agents in the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Hyekyung Yang; Cheol-Young Park

doi:10.4093/jkd.2018.19.2.88

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Yang and Park: Glucose-Lowering Agents in the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Focused Issue

The Journal of Korean Diabetes 2018; 19(2): 88-96.

Published online: 30 June 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4093/jkd.2018.19.2.88

Glucose-Lowering Agents in the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Hyekyung Yang¹, Cheol-Young Park^1,²

¹Medical Research Institute, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

²Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Cheol-Young Park. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 29 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03181, Korea, cydoctor@chol.com

Received 22 May 2018 Accepted 28 May 2018

Korean Diabetes Association

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is more prevalent in diabetic patients than in non-diabetic subjects, because the two diseases share a common pathophysiological mechanism. Associated abnormalities can be observed from the pre-diabetic stage. Lifestyle intervention, including diet, exercise, and weight loss, is the primary recommended therapy for NAFLD. Among the therapeutic drugs for NAFLD treatment, anti-diabetic agents are aimed at improving or slowing the progression of NAFLD in addition to lowering blood glucose. In this paper, we systemically review the evidence surrounding antidiabetic medications and their ability to improve disease progression in patients with NAFLD.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Glucose-lowering agents, Incretins, Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Sodium-glucose transporter 2, Thiazolidinediones

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Effects of glucose-lowering agents in NAFLD/NASH patients

Data from the articles of Mazzotti et al. (Dig Liver Dis 2017;49:235–40) [48] and Portillo-Sanchez and Cusi (Clin Diabetes Endocrinol 2016;2:9) [49].

NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; GLP-1R, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor; DPP-4, dipeptidylpeptidase-4; SGLT-2, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2; n/a, data not available.

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