Liraglutide reduces liver fat content in type 2 diabetes

Last Updated: 2016-10-24

By Reuters Staff

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Liraglutide reduces liver fat content along with body weight in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, according to results from the Lira-NAFLD study.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is commonly associated with type 2 diabetes, increases the risk of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Liraglutide improves indirect indicators of steatosis, but data on the effect of liraglutide on NAFLD are limited.

Dr. Bruno Verges from University Hospital, Dijon, France and colleagues investigated the effect of liraglutide on liver fat content in 80 patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with metformin and/or sulfonylurea and/or insulin.

The mean liver fat content was elevated (at 17.3%) and 57 patients (84%) had NAFLD, defined as liver fat content of 5.5% or greater, according to the October 12th online report in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

After six months of treatment with liraglutide, mean HbA1c fell from 9.8% to 7.3%. Mean body weight decreased from 99.5 kg to 95.9 kg, and there were significant decreases in body mass index, visceral fat area, subcutaneous fat area, liver enzymes, and plasma triglycerides, as well as significant increases in HDL-cholesterol and plasma adiponectin.

At the same time, liver fat content declined an average of 31% (from 17.3% to 11.9%) overall and by 33% among the 57 patients with NAFLD at baseline.

The reduction in liver fat content was significantly and independently associated with the reduction in body weight, HbA1c, and triglycerides.

When patients were divided into tertiles according to their body weight reduction, liver fat reduction was significant only in the two tertiles with the greatest weight reduction and not in the tertile in which mean body weight reduction was not significant.

"Six months of treatment with liraglutide 1.2 mg/d significantly reduced liver fat content in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, and this effect was mainly driven by body weight reduction," the authors conclude. "Further studies are needed to confirm that this reduction in liver fat content may significantly reduce fibrosis progression."

Dr. Verges did not respond to a request for comment.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2eXh2zH

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2016.