NEW DELHI: Treating patients with semaglutide -- an anti-diabetic medication -- can halt and even reverse liver disease, according to a study.
Researchers from the King's College London, UK, chose to investigate semaglutide as a potential treatment because this class of drug helps reduce fat and liver scarring for people with metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH) -- a life-threatening form of liver disease.
MASH is a more severe form of Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) -- a long-lasting liver condition caused by having too much fat in the liver.
It is closely linked with obesity as well as conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart and circulatory disease.
In the trial conducted across 37 countries around the world, 800 participants were randomly assigned to receive a once-weekly injection of 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide or placebo, alongside lifestyle counselling.
The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that after 72 weeks of treatment, 62.9 per cent of participants experienced a reduction in steatohepatitis (inflammation of the liver with fat accumulation in the liver) versus 34.3 per cent for participants who took the placebo.
About 37 per cent of the semaglutide group also had improvements in their liver fibrosis versus 22.4 per cent in the placebo group.
"MASLD is a growing problem worldwide and this trial will provide real hope for patients with MASH. While these results must be treated with caution, the analysis shows semaglutide can be an effective tool to treat this advanced liver disease, " said Prof Philip Newsome, from King's College.
Researchers also found that people receiving semaglutide had improvements in liver enzymes and other blood measures of liver fibrosis, as well as 10.5 per cent weight loss.
However, gastrointestinal adverse events were more common in the semaglutide group, such as nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, and vomiting, the team said.