Explained: ‘Wonder drug' Ozempic could reverse liver disease, finds study
A drug originally developed to treat diabetes, and now prescribed for weight loss, may have yet another significant application: stopping, perhaps even reversing, liver disease.
In a phase 3 clinical trial involving 800 participants across 37 countries, and lasting 72 weeks, an international team of researchers found that a weekly dose of semaglutide was effective at treating Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH), a serious form of fatty liver disease, in almost two-thirds of patients. Semaglutide is the key component of diabetes drug Ozempic and weight loss drug Wegovy.
The study was led by Dr Arun Sanyal of the Virginia Commonwealth University (US), and Dr Philip Newsome of King's College London. Its findings were published on April 30 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
'The results provide strong evidence that semaglutide can help by not only improving liver health, but also addressing the underlying metabolic issues that contribute to the disease,' Sanyal said in a press release by his university.
According to Yale Medicine, MASH describes a spectrum of conditions marked by fat buildup in the liver not caused by alcohol use. It is a metabolic syndrome usually caused by overnutrition, and leads to inflammation and scarring of the liver.
'If approved, (the use of semaglutide to treat MASH) could offer an additional therapeutic option… This is crucial, given the strong link between MASH and cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal conditions, where semaglutide has already shown established health benefits,' Sanyal said.
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