Animal studies of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered one of the most common chronic liver diseases. Modern lifestyle, characterized by increasing rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), has led to a “pandemic” of NAFLD that imposes a personal health and socioeconomic burden. Apart from overnutrition and insulin resistance, various metabolic aberrations, gut microbiota and genetic predispositions are involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. The multifactorial nature of NAFLD’s pathogenesis makes the development of pharmacological therapies for patients with this disease challenging. Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) are antidiabetic agents that reduce blood glucose mainly by increasing its renal excretion. As T2DM is one of the major contributors to NAFLD, SGLT-2i have emerged as promising agents for the management of NAFLD. In this review, we summarize the main animal studies on SGLT-2i in models of NAFLD.