Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 28, 2019; 25(28): 3664-3668
Published online Jul 28, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i28.3664
Role of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors in the management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Anastasia Kontana, Konstantinos Tziomalos
Anastasia Kontana, Konstantinos Tziomalos, First Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece
Author contributions: Kontana A drafted the editorial; Tziomalos K critically revised the draft.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest related to this publication.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected byan in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Konstantinos Tziomalos, MD, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor, First Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, 1 Stilponos Kyriakidi Street, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece. ktziomalos@yahoo.com
Telephone: +30-2310-994621 Fax: +30-2310-994773
Received: March 18, 2019
Peer-review started: March 18, 2019
First decision: May 9, 2019
Revised: May 20, 2019
Accepted: June 25, 2019
Article in press: June 26, 2019
Published online: July 28, 2019
Processing time: 133 Days and 22.6 Hours
Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. NAFLD is considerably more frequent in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than in the general population and is also more severe histologically in this group. Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, the newest class of antidiabetic agents, appear to represent a promising option for the management of NAFLD in patients with T2DM. In a number of studies, treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors resulted in a reduction in hepatic steatosis and in transaminase levels. However, existing studies are small, their follow-up period was short and none evaluated the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on liver histology. Accordingly, larger studies are needed to verify these preliminary results and define the role of SGLT2 inhibitors in the treatment of NAFLD in patients with T2DM.

Keywords: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors; Steatosis; Fibrosis; Transaminases

Core tip: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is more frequent and more severe in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than in the general population. Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors appear to represent a promising option for the management of NAFLD in patients with T2DM. However, existing studies are small, their follow-up period was short and none evaluated the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on liver histology. Accordingly, larger studies are needed to verify these preliminary results and define the role of SGLT2 inhibitors in the treatment of NAFLD in patients with T2DM.