Pilot study of liraglutide effects in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with glucose intolerance in Japanese patients (LEAN-J)

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichiro Eguchi ◽  
Yoichiro Kitajima ◽  
Hideyuki Hyogo ◽  
Hirokazu Takahashi ◽  
Motoyasu Kojima ◽  
...  
2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh P. Arasaradnam ◽  
Michael McFarlane ◽  
Emma Daulton ◽  
Erik Westenbrink ◽  
Nicola O’Connell ◽  
...  

Background & Aims: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is the commonest cause of chronic liver disease in the western world. Current diagnostic methods including Fibroscan have limitations, thus there is a need for more robust non-invasive screening methods. The gut microbiome is altered in several gastrointestinal and hepatic disorders resulting in altered, unique gut fermentation patterns, detectable by analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine, breath and faeces. We performed a proof of principle pilot study to determine if progressive fatty liver disease produced an altered urinary VOC pattern; specifically NAFLD and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).Methods: 34 patients were recruited: 8 NASH cirrhotics (NASH-C); 7 non-cirrhotic NASH; 4 NAFLD and 15 controls. Urine was collected and stored frozen. For assay, the samples were defrosted and aliquoted into vials, which were heated to 40±0.1°C and the headspace analyzed by FAIMS (Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectroscopy). A previously used data processing pipeline employing a Random Forrest classification algorithm and using a 10 fold cross validation method was applied.Results: Urinary VOC results demonstrated sensitivity of 0.58 (0.33 - 0.88), but specificity of 0.93 (0.68 - 1.00) and an Area Under Curve (AUC) 0.73 (0.55 -0.90) to distinguish between liver disease and controls. However, NASH/NASH-C was separated from the NAFLD/controls with a sensitivity of 0.73 (0.45 - 0.92), specificity of 0.79 (0.54 - 0.94) and AUC of 0.79 (0.64 - 0.95), respectively.Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that urinary VOCs detection may offer the potential for early non-invasive characterisation of liver disease using 'smell prints' to distinguish between NASH and NAFLD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Sfikas ◽  
Michael Psallas ◽  
Charalambos Koumaras ◽  
Konstantinos Imprialos ◽  
Evangelos Perdikakis ◽  
...  

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its severe form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), are major health problems worldwide. Genetics may play a role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD/NASH. Aim: To investigate the prevalence of NAFLD/NASH in 5,400 military personnel and evaluate the effect of treatment with 3 statins on NAFLD/NASH using 2 non-invasive scores [NAFLD Activity Score (NAS); Fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4)]. Methods: During the mandatory annual medical check-up, military personnel underwent a clinical and laboratory evaluation. Participants with NAFLD/NASH were randomised to 4 groups (n=151 each): dietexercise, atorvastatin, rosuvastatin or pitavastatin for 1 year (i.e. until the next routine evaluation). Results: From all the participants, 613 had NAFLD/NASH (prevalence 11.3 vs 39.8% in the general population, p<0.001); 604 consented to participate in the study. After a year of treatment, the diet-exercise group showed no significant changes in both scores (NAS 4.98 baseline vs 5.62, p=0.07; FIB-4 3.42 vs 3.52, p=0.7). For the atorvastatin group, both scores were reduced (NAS 4.97 vs 1.95, p<0.001, FIB-4 3.56 vs 0.83, p<0.001), for rosuvastatin (NAS 5.55 vs 1.81, p<0.001, FIB-4 3.61 vs 0.79, p<0.001), and for pitavastatin (NAS 4.89 vs 1.99, p<0.001, FIB-4 3.78 vs 0.87, p<0.001). Conclusions : Atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and pitavastatin have a beneficial and safe effect in NAFLD/NASH patients as recorded by the improvement in the NAS (representing NAFLD activity) and FIB-4 (representing liver fibrosis) scores. Since both those with and without NAFLD/NASH shared several baseline characteristics, genetics may play a role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD/NASH and its treatment with statins.


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