©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Nov 27, 2018; 10(11): 790-794
Published online Nov 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i11.790
Published online Nov 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i11.790
Treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with antidiabetic drugs: Will GLP-1 agonists end the struggle?
Maria Kalogirou, Emmanouil Sinakos, 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Hippocrates Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54642, Greece
Author contributions: Kalogirou M and Sinakos E conceived the study and drafted the manuscript; both authors approved the final version of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Emmanouil Sinakos reports personal fees from Novo Nordisk, outside the submitted work.
Correspondence to: Emmanouil Sinakos, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Hippocrates Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 49, Konstantinopoleos Street, Thessaloniki 54642, Greece. esinakos@auth.gr
Telephone: +30-69-44912668 Fax: +30-23-10992940
Received: July 31, 2018
Peer-review started: July 31, 2018
First decision: August 20, 2018
Revised: September 10, 2018
Accepted: October 9, 2018
Article in press: October 10, 2018
Published online: November 27, 2018
Processing time: 119 Days and 21.4 Hours
Peer-review started: July 31, 2018
First decision: August 20, 2018
Revised: September 10, 2018
Accepted: October 9, 2018
Article in press: October 10, 2018
Published online: November 27, 2018
Processing time: 119 Days and 21.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: There is an urgent need for an effective treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Growing evidence indicates that reducing insulin resistance can result in improvement of the biochemical and histological features of patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, no antidiabetic agent to date has been proven as both safe and effective for the treatment of patients with NASH. Recent studies have demonstrated that glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, a novel class of antidiabetic drugs, may be effective in slowing the progression of NAFLD, highlighting their potential role in the treatment of this complex disease.