Effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is one of the most common liver diseases, morphologically representing a whole spectrum of pathological conditions, from steatosis and steatohepatitis to fibrosis, the clinical outcomes of which can be liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The frequency of adverse outcomes in the course of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease significantly increases against the background of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is probably due to the pathogenetic synergy of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with metabolic syndrome. The commonality of pathogenetic links, as a result, suggests the unidirectionality of therapeutic approaches. In this connection, a search was made for studies and meta-analyses in large electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, UpToDate, CyberLeninka) in order to study modern methods of pharmacotherapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The results of a number of experimental and clinical studies evaluating the effect of hypoglycemic drugs of the group of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease demonstrate a wide range of intrahepatic effects that affect the manifestations of liver steatosis and fibrosis through the regulation of oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, effects on intrahepatic inflammation, autophagy and apoptosis, as well as indirectly affecting hepatic metabolism, by reducing body weight. In addition, today gliflozins are rushing to occupy a completely new therapeutic niche, demonstrating anticarcinogenic effects in experimental studies. Thus, the pleiotropic effect of inhibitors of the sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 suggests a potential hepatoprotective effect in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and its outcomes.

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