The diabetes drug Victoza (liraglutide) has apparently eliminated non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in a significant proportion of those treated in a recent trial, MedPage Today reports. Researchers in the Liraglutide Efficacy and Action in NASH (LEAN) trial randomized 26 overweight people with NASH to receive 48 weeks of treatment with once-daily subcutaneous injections of either Victoza or a placebo. They presented their findings at the 50th International Liver Congress in Vienna, Austria.
About 39 percent of those who received Victoza, which is a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analog, saw their NASH eliminated according to a biopsy, compared with just 9 percent of those who received the placebo. Two participants (9 percent) who received the study drug experienced worsening fibrosis, compared with eight participants (36 percent) who received the placebo.
Victoza also lowered participants’ body weight, body mass index and fasting glucose when compared with the placebo.
No participants taking Victoza experienced any drug-related serious adverse side effects.
read more at: hepmag.com/articles/Victoza...