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
. 2023 Jan 15;24(2):1703.
doi: 10.3390/ijms24021703.

GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives

Riccardo Nevola  1 , Raffaella Epifani  1 , Simona Imbriani  1 , Giovanni Tortorella  1 , Concetta Aprea  1 , Raffaele Galiero  1 , Luca Rinaldi  1 , Raffaele Marfella  1 , Ferdinando Carlo Sasso  1
Affiliations
Review

GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives

Riccardo Nevola et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

To date, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most frequent liver disease, affecting up to 70% of patients with diabetes. Currently, there are no specific drugs available for its treatment. Beyond their anti-hyperglycemic effect and the surprising role of cardio- and nephroprotection, GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have shown a significant impact on body weight and clinical, biochemical and histological markers of fatty liver and fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. Therefore, GLP-1 RAs could be a weapon for the treatment of both diabetes mellitus and NAFLD. The aim of this review is to summarize the evidence currently available on the role of GLP-1 RAs in the treatment of NAFLD and to hypothesize potential future scenarios.

Keywords: GLP-1 receptor agonist; NAFLD; steatosis; type 2 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Direct and indirect mechanisms of action of GLP-1 RAs potentially involved in the NAFLD treatment. ER: endoplasmic reticulum; FAs: fatty acids; FAM3A: family with sequence similarity 3 member A; FXR: farnesoid X receptor; HbA1c: glycosylated hemoglobin; LXR: liver X receptor. * also determined by the reduction in body weight.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Riazi K., Azhari H., Charette J.H., Underwood F.E., King J.A., Afshar E.E., Swain M.G., Congly S.E., Kaplan G.G., Shaheen A.A. The prevalence and incidence of NAFLD worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2022;7:851–861. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(22)00165-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Caturano A., Acierno C., Nevola R., Pafundi P.C., Galiero R., Rinaldi L., Salvatore T., Adinolfi L.E., Sasso F.C. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: From Pathogenesis to Clinical Impact. Processes. 2021;9:135. doi: 10.3390/pr9010135. - DOI
    1. Eslam M., Newsome P.N., Sarin S.K., Anstee Q.M., Targher G., Romero-Gomez M., Zelber-Sagi S., Wai-Sun Wong V., Dufour J.F., Schattenberg J.M., et al. A new definition for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease: An international expert consensus statement. J. Hepatol. 2020;73:202–209. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2020.03.039. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Acierno C., Caturano A., Pafundi P.C., Nevola R., Adinolfi L.E., Sasso F.C. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes: Pathophysiological mechanisms shared between the two faces of the same coin. Explor. Med. 2020;1:287–306. doi: 10.37349/emed.2020.00019. - DOI
    1. Gastaldelli A., Cusi K. From NASH to diabetes and from diabetes to NASH: Mechanisms and treatment options. JHEP Rep. 2019;1:312–328. doi: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2019.07.002. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances