Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Galmed Pharmaceuticals announced the initiation of a late-stage clinical trial to evaluate Aramchol for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with fibrosis, according to a press release.

Primary biliary cholangitis is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes progressive destruction of the bile ducts. While the disease is considered rare with fewer than 200,000 cases in the U.S. per year, many physicians and patient advocacy groups have made strides toward increasing awareness about the disease, as early diagnosis and treatment can help to manage complications and prevent progression of inflammation and fibrosis.

Researchers identified a link between the presence and severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children with reduced whole-body bone mineral density, according to results of a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Recently published data reveal an inadequate public health response to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in European countries, according to a study conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

Approximately 30% of Americans have fatty liver, but only a small proportion have progressed to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. One of the complications that we face in finding these patients is that our current treatment guidelines for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease do not recommend routine screening. Additionally, it is not feasible to send every patient with potential risk factors for an invasive procedure like liver biopsy. What we have at our disposal, however, are some very simple noninvasive biomarkers and tools to help stratify which patients should be followed for fatty liver and its progression.

Specialists from all medical fields have become more aware over the last few decades about how one disease can feed the development of others and that the need for co-management is crucial to optimize patient quality of life and life expectancy. As the incidence and prevalence of fatty liver disease grows in the U.S. and around the world, prevention of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and commonly concurrent advanced fibrosis has become a concern outside of the field of hepatology.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is an increasingly common cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related mortality. Along its progression, severe nonalcoholic steatohepatitis includes the development of clinically significant or advanced fibrosis. Currently, there are no approved therapeutics to treat this disease, but that will be changing soon.

Poxel SA announced the initiation of a phase 1b trial designed to investigate PXL065 for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in patients without cirrhosis, according to a press release.

The negative effects of obesity on overall health have been well-established along with the increasing rates throughout both the U.S. and internationally. Obesity as a comorbidity in liver disease can affect progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and compound alcohol-related liver complications. Recent studies have also shown that obesity in liver disease may have a more complex pathophysiology than previously thought.

Among the top stories in endocrinology last week were findings that suggested adults who practiced a combination of healthy lifestyle factors more than halved their risk for developing type 2 diabetes and a study that determined children exposed to gestational diabetes in utero who were exclusively breastfed were less likely to develop obesity if intake of sugar-sweetened beverages was also low.