treatment for fatty liver disease 'closer than ever'
scientists have long been trying to develop a medication that treats nafld but many attempts have failed to show an improvement.
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one in five adults with nash go on to develop severe scarring of the liver. getty
a treatment for non-2022年世界杯预选赛阿根廷 liver disease (nafld) may finally be on the way thanks to the development of a new drug that has proven successful in animal testing.
according to the study, published in the journal cell metabolism, an amino acid compound known as dt-109 was effective at treating a severe form of nafld known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or nash. the drug, which successfully reversed the buildup of fat and scarring on the livers of mice and non-human primates with the disease, offers much-needed hope for human patients with few other options.
“for years, scientists have been trying to develop a medication that treats nash but many attempts have failed to show an improvement or have raised safety concerns in clinical trials,” said eugene chen, senior author of the study and frederick g. l. huetwell professor of cardiovascular medicine at university of michigan medical school. “nash is rising at a staggering rate, and successful treatment of non-human primates with our drug candidate, dt-109, brings us closer than ever to treating the millions of people suffering from this condition.”
according to the canadian liver foundation, non-2022年世界杯预选赛阿根廷 liver disease (nafld) typically occurs in people who consume more fat or sugar than their bodies can handle. once fat builds up to more than five per cent of the liver, that liver is considered fatty. although the condition, which affects around one in five canadians, may not cause immediate concerns, it can make the liver vulnerable to other issues, such as inflammation or fibrosis (scarring of the liver).
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nash, which affects around 1.5 million canadians, is a more serious form of nafld. one in five adults with nash go on to develop cirrhosis, or a severe scarring of the liver. nash is now one of the primary causes of liver cancer in the world and one of the main reasons people end up needing a liver transplant. although exercise, diet and other interventions can improve the prognosis of patients with nafld, the liver damage caused by nash is much more permanent and harder to reverse.
the team developed dt-109 for treating non-human primates after research revealed that impaired glycine metabolism may be one of the causes of nafld and nash. although other drugs have proven successful in treating nash in mice, these models are limited because not all aspects of human disease are translatable to the small rodents. dt-109 is one of the very few drugs that has also proven successful in non-human primate models.
in tests on both mice and primates, dt-109 reversed the buildup of fat and prevented the progression of fibrosis by stimulating fatty acid degradation and antioxidant formation. it also prevented the production of lithocholic acid, a toxic secondary bile acid linked to nafld.
“with this significant breakthrough in preclinical models, we can now consider evaluating dt-109 as a potential drug candidate for the treatment of nash in future clinical trials,” said jifeng zhang, co-corresponding author and research associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at michigan medicine.
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“with millions of people suffering from nash, the need for an effective treatment is more pressing than ever.”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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