Prospects for the use of drugs from the group of agonists of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver diseases. To a large extent, the development of this disease is associated with metabolic syndrome. There is a pathogenetic association of NAFLD with obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease. Numerous studies demonstrate that an increase in the incidence of NAFLD occurs in parallel with an increase in the prevalence of obesity and DM 2. A number of scientific studies in the field of medicine have made it possible to identify the main pathogenetic mechanisms of the development of the disease, as well as the possibility of using various pharmacological drugs to correct these conditions. Currently, the possibility of using in the future a group of drugs that have a single mechanism for controlling the development of hepatic steatosis, and further progression with the formation of inflammation, cirrhosis and, in some cases, hepatocellular carcinoma, is being considered. Of particular interest is a class of drugs intended for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity – glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (arGLP-1). A search was made of clinical studies, meta-analyses, literature reviews in databases and registries of medical publications over a period of 10 years. Changes in anthropometric indications, changes in non-invasive markers of liver steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis, as well as histological data on the background of the use of drugs of the arGLP-1 class were studied. It has been demonstrated that the study drug class may have a significant potential for impact on NAFLD. However, further studies with sufficient duration and histological evaluation are needed to fully evaluate the effectiveness of arGLP-1 in the treatment of NAFLD.