Korean J Intern Med.  2019 Mar;34(2):296-304. 10.3904/kjim.2017.194.

Ezetimibe decreased nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score but not hepatic steatosis

• Lee HY
• Jun DW
• Kim HJ
• Oh H
• Saeed WK
• Ahn H
• Cheung RC
• Nguyen MH

• KMID: 2441009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2017.194

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
A number of clinical trials reported varying effects of cholesterol lowering agents in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. We, therefore, assessed the changes in hepatic steatosis and NAFLD activity score (NAS) after treatment with cholesterol lowering agents in NAFLD patients by metaanalysis.
METHODS
The Cochrane Library, the MEDLINE, and the Embase databases were searched until May 2015, without any language restrictions, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized studies (NRSs). Additional references were obtained from review of bibliography of relevant articles. The quality of evidence was assessed using the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation guidelines.
RESULTS
Three RCTs (n = 98) and two NRSs (n = 101) met our study inclusion criteria (adult, NAFLD, liver biopsy). Liver biopsy was performed in all five studies, but only the three studies reported NAS. Ezetimibe significantly decreased NAS (standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.57 to -0.03) but not hepatic steatosis in RCT (SMD, -0.1; 95% CI, -0.53 to 0.32), while the effect was significant for both NAS and intrahepatic content in NRSs (SMD, -3.0; 95% CI, -6.9 to 0.91).
CONCLUSIONS
Ezetimibe decreased NAS without improving hepatic steatosis.

Keyword

Meta-analysis; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors; Ezetimibe

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Cholesterol
Ezetimibe*
Humans
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
Liver
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease*
Cholesterol
Ezetimibe
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors