Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Sep;11(3):166-179.
doi: 10.1007/s13679-022-00474-0. Epub 2022 May 2.

Anti-obesity Medications for the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Stergios A Polyzos  1 , Dimitrios G Goulis  2 , Olga Giouleme  3 , Georgios S Germanidis  4 , Antonis Goulas  5
Affiliations
Review

Anti-obesity Medications for the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Stergios A Polyzos et al. Curr Obes Rep. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Obesity is closely associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a highly prevalent disease without any approved medication. The aim of this review was to summarize the evidence on the effect of anti-obesity medications on NAFLD, especially focusing on hepatic histology.

Recent findings: Orlistat and some glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor analogs, including liraglutide and semaglutide, have beneficial effects on hepatic steatosis and inflammation, but not fibrosis. Other anti-obesity medications, including lorcaserin, setmelanotide, phentermine hydrochloric, phentermine/topiramate, and naltrexone/bupropion, have been minimally investigated in NAFLD. Furthermore, medications like sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors and farnesoid X receptor have shown beneficial effects in both NAFLD and obesity, but they have not been licensed for either disease. Liraglutide, semaglutide, and orlistat may be currently used in selected patients with obesity and NAFLD. Further research is warranted, since targeting obesity may provide additional benefits on its comorbidities, including NAFLD.

Keywords: Glucagon-like peptide-1 analog; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; Obesity; Orlistat; Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Younossi ZM, Stepanova M, Younossi Y, Golabi P, Mishra A, Rafiq N, et al. Epidemiology of chronic liver diseases in the USA in the past three decades. Gut. 2020;69:564–8. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2019-318813 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Polyzos SA, Mantzoros CS. Nonalcoholic fatty future disease. Metabolism. 2016;65:1007–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2015.12.009 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Makri E, Goulas A, Polyzos SA. Epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and emerging treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Arch Med Res. 2021;52:25–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arcmed.2020.11.010 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Polyzos SA, Kechagias S, Tsochatzis E. Review article: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular diseases—associations and treatment considerations. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2021;54:1013–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.16575 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Whitlock G, Lewington S, Sherliker P, Clarke R, Emberson J, Halsey J, et al. Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. Lancet. 2009;373:1083–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60318-4 . - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources