The Effects of Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter-2 Inhibitors (SGLT-2-i) on Fatty Liver, Steato-Hepatitis, Liver Fibrosis, and Hepatocellular Carcinoma-A Review

The drug category of Sodium-Glucose co-transporters 2 inhibitors (SGLT 2 inhibitors) is a newer class of pharmaceutical agents for the management of type-2 diabetes mellitus, with a proved promising cardio-protective effects. In addition to above beneficial effects, Sodium-Glucose co-transporters 2 inhibitors showed their effectiveness to reduce abdominal fat content, amount of fat in liver tissues and progression of inflammation and fibrosis in experimental as well as clinical studies. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases (NAFLD) are common among patients with type 2 diabetes patients and includes fatty liver, Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis and when present together these disorders exacerbates each other deleterious consequences. This review article is carried out with an objectives to find out the effects of Sodium-Glucose co-transporters 2 inhibitors on non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, steato-hepatitis, fibrosis liver and hepatocellular carcinoma. The authors identified 21 relevant articles including twelve experimental and nine clinical studies with inclusion of 15152 patients, in study period ranges from 20-104 weeks. The analysis of these studies showed beneficial effects SGLT 2 inhibitors on fatty liver, liver function and NASH development, hepatic fibrosis and prevention and regression of hepatocellular carcinoma and concluded that SGLT-2 inhibitors may protect or reduce the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, steato-hepatitis and hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetes patients.