Makri E, Cholongitas E, Tziomalos K. Emerging role of obeticholic acid in the management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. World J Gastroenterol 2016; 22(41): 9039-9043 [PMID: 27895393 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i41.9039]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Evangelos Cholongitas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 49 Konstantinoupoleos street, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece. cholongitas@yahoo.gr
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Evangelia Makri, Konstantinos Tziomalos, First Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
Evangelos Cholongitas, Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece
Author contributions: Makri E drafted the editorial; Cholongitas E and Tziomalos K critically revised the draft.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest related to this publication.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Evangelos Cholongitas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 49 Konstantinoupoleos street, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece. cholongitas@yahoo.gr
Telephone: +30-6936-378903 Fax: +30-2310-992940
Received: July 18, 2016 Peer-review started: July 21, 2016 First decision: August 29, 2016 Revised: August 31, 2016 Accepted: September 28, 2016 Article in press: September 28, 2016 Published online: November 7, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the commonest chronic liver disease in Western countries, can progress to cirrhosis and is associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality risk. Current pharmacological treatment of NAFLD has limited efficacy and therefore, there is a pressing need to develop more effective and safe agents for this common and life-threatening disease. Obeticholic acid (OCA), a selective agonist of the farnesoid X receptors, might be a useful agent in the management of NAFLD. In the Farnesoid X Receptor Ligand Obeticholic Acid in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) Treatment (FLINT) trial in patients with NASH, OCA administration was associated with improvements in liver histology, while weight loss and reduction in blood pressure were also observed. Although its adverse effects on the lipid profile and insulin sensitivity are worrisome, given the increased cardiovascular risk of this population, OCA might be considered in selected patients with NAFLD/NASH, particularly in those with adequately controlled glucose and lipid levels.
