Pharmacy Daily | T2D drug cuts liver risk

A CLASS of medicines used to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D), sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, has been associated with a 36% reduced risk of developing chronic liver damage (cirrhosis) among people with T2D, a new study has found.

SGLT2 inhibitors, which include dapagliflozin, empagliflozin and ertugliflozin, were also found to reduce the risk of serious liver damage complications (decompensated cirrhosis) by 26%.

The UK population-based study involving 240,000 people looked at three classes of T2D medicines and their potential to reduce the risk of liver damage among people with T2D: glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists' (GLP-1RAs, such as semaglutide), dipeptidyl peptidase 4' (DPP-4) inhibitors (such as sitagliptin, saxagliptin, linagliptin, and alogliptin) and SGLT2 inhibitors.

Unlike SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1RAs were not associated with a lower risk of chronic liver damage when compared with DPP-4 inhibitors.

Concurrently, none of the medicines were associated with a lower risk of liver cancer or liver-related mortality.

Lead author, Monash University's Dr Richeek Pradhan from the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety within the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said these findings could pave the way for new strategies to manage liver disease for people living with T2D.

"T2D-associated liver disease and its associated complications can lead to very serious health outcomes," Dr Pradhan said.

"Taking this into account, our hope is that this study could be a stepping stone toward further research and, longer term, enhanced therapeutic approaches when it comes to reducing the risk of liver disease among susceptible patients," he added.

Research relating to the T2D and liver disease connection is still relatively new, the researchers noted, but there is clear evidence that each condition increases the risk for the other due to organ damage caused by long-term high blood sugar levels.

Read the paper HERE. KB