Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 21, 2024; 30(39): 4313-4317
Published online Oct 21, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i39.4313
Elafibranor: A promising treatment for alcohol-associated liver disease?
Hong Wei, Li-Xuan Sang, Bing Chang
Hong Wei, Bing Chang, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Li-Xuan Sang, Department of Gastroenterology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110022, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Wei H wrote the original draft; Sang LX and Chang B revised the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bing Chang, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, No. 155 Nanjing North Street, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. cb000216@163.com
Received: July 22, 2024
Revised: September 3, 2024
Accepted: September 25, 2024
Published online: October 21, 2024
Processing time: 81 Days and 13 Hours
Abstract

We comment on an article by Koizumi et al. Elafibranor (EFN) is a dual pero-xisome proliferator-activated receptor α/δ agonist. The experimental results from Koizumi et al demonstrated that EFN significantly increases intestinal barrier function and ameliorates liver fibrosis. These positive outcomes suggest that EFN could be a promising therapeutic option for alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). However, this study has limitations that necessitate further research to evaluate the efficacy of EFN. Future studies should consider the use of more appropriate animal models and cell types, optimize the administration routes and dosages of the drug, and conduct an in-depth investigation into the underlying mechanisms of action to determine the therapeutic effects of EFN in humans. With sustained and in-depth research, EFN has the potential to emerge as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of ALD.

Keywords: Alcohol-associated liver disease; Liver fibrosis; Gut barrier function; Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor; Ethanol

Core Tip: This article discusses the article by Koizumi et al on the effects of elafibranor (EFN) in treating alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) in a mouse model. These findings are remarkable and reveal that EFN can significantly increase intestinal barrier function and ameliorate liver fibrosis. Given that the efficacy and safety of EFN have been established in patients with primary biliary cholangitis, it has emerged as an exceedingly promising candidate novel treatment modality for ALD.