Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is very frequent in type 2 diabetes, with increased risk of further development of liver fibrosis. Animal studies have shown that GLP-1 receptor agonists may reduce liver lipogenesis. However, data in humans are scarce. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of liraglutide 1.2 mg/d on liver fat content (LFC) in patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and to evaluate the factors potentially associated with liraglutide-induced modification of LFC. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: LFC was measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy before and after 6 months of liraglutide treatment in 68 patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus. INTERVENTION: Liraglutide 1.2 mg/d. OUTCOME MEASURE: Change in LFC. RESULTS: Treatment with liraglutide was associated with a significant decrease in body weight, HbA1C, and a marked relative reduction in LFC of 31% (P < 0.0001). No significant modification of LFC was observed in a parallel group of patients 6 months after intensification of the antidiabetic treatment with insulin. The reduction in LFC and body weight were highly correlated (r = 0.490; P < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the reduction in LFC was independently associated with baseline LFC (P < 0.0001), age (P = 0.010), and reduction in body weight (P < 0.0001), triglycerides (P = 0.019), and HbA1c (P = 0.034). In the patients who had no significant decrease in body weight, no significant reduction in LFC was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Six months of treatment with liraglutide 1.2 mg/d significantly reduced LFC in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes and this effect was mainly driven by body weight reduction. Further studies are needed to confirm that this reduction in LFC may significantly reduce fibrosis progression.
Petit et al. (Wed,) studied this question.