Pharmacologic Treatment Strategies for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common form of liver disease, associated with features of the metabolic syndrome. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the aggressive subtype of NAFLD, can cause progressive fibrosis leading to cirrhosis. With the obesity epidemic, there is an increased health care burden from NASH, one of the most common causes of liver transplantation in the United States. There currently are no Food and Drug Administration-approved medical therapies for NASH. There exists a need for therapeutics to correct the drivers of NASH and to reverse or halt fibrosis progression. This article reviews pharmacologic therapeutics being developed to treat NASH.

Keywords: Cirrhosis; Clinical trials; Fibrosis regression; Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis resolution; Treatment.