Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This network meta-analysis aims to compare the efficacy and safety of new anti-diabetic medications for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed and Scopus were searched from inception to 27 th March 2022 to identify all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in NAFLD patients. Outcomes included reductions in intrahepatic steatosis (IHS) and liver enzyme levels. The efficacy and safety of DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 agonists, SGLT-2 inhibitors, and other therapies were indirectly compared using a NMA approach. Unstandardized mean difference (USMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.
RESULTS: 2,252 patients from 31 RCTs were included. "Add-on" GLP-1 agonists with standard of care (SoC) treatment showed significantly reduced IHS compared to SoC alone [USMD (95%CI) -3.93% (-6.54%, -1.33%)]. Surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) identified GLP-1 receptor agonists with the highest probability to reduce IHS (SUCRA 88.5%), followed by DPP-4 inhibitors (SUCRA 69.6%) and pioglitazone (SUCRA 62.2%). "Add-on" GLP-1 receptor agonists were also the most effective treatment for reducing liver enzyme levels; AST [USMD of -5.04 (-8.46, -1.62)], ALT [USMD of -9.84 (-16.84, -2.85)] and GGT [USMD of -15.53 (-22.09, -8.97)] compared to SoC alone. However, GLP-1 agonists were most likely to be associated with an adverse event compared to other interventions.
CONCLUSION: GLP-1 agonists may represent the most promising anti-diabetic treatment to reduce hepatic steatosis and liver enzyme activity in T2DM and NAFLD patients. Nevertheless, longer-term studies are required to determine whether this delays progression of liver cirrhosis in patients with NAFLD and T2DM.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42021259336.1.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1182037 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Endocrinology |
| Volume | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Jun 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2023 Kongmalai, Srinonprasert, Anothaisintawee, Kongmalai, McKay, Attia and Thakkinstian.Keywords
- Humans
- Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/drug therapy
- Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV Inhibitors/therapeutic use
- Network Meta-Analysis
- Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor
- Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
- Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use
- Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/drug therapy
- Glucagon-Like Peptide 1/therapeutic use
Access to Document
- New anti-diabetic agents for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Copyright 2023 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.