Rosuvastatin as treatment for non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-dyslipidaemia: New treatment for global dangers

Statins for treatment of fatty liver disease: Recent advances

Fatty liver disease (FLD), a common liver disease, is caused by genetic, environmental, and metabolic factors. It is mainly divided into alcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. FLD will gradually progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer if there is no timely intervention. Statins, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, can significantly decrease serum cholesterol levels by inhibiting the activity of HMG-CoA reductase. Thus, they are widely used to treat hypercholesterolemia in clinical practice. Some studies have reported that statins may exert anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, and anti-fibrosis effects, suggesting their benefits on FLD. Herein, we review the existing evidence about use of statins for the treatment of FLD to further guide the rational use of statins in patients with FLD.

Managing dyslipidemia in HIV/AIDS patients: challenges and solutions

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a chronic disease associated with dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. In addition, the administration of combination antiretroviral therapy is associated with an increase in the incidence of metabolic risk factors (insulin resistance, lipoatrophy, dyslipidemia, and abnormalities of fat distribution in HIV patients). HIV dyslipidemia is a common problem, and associated with an increase in incidence of cardiovascular disease. Further challenges in the management of HIV dyslipidemia are the presence of diabetes and metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hypothyroidism, chronic kidney disease, the risk of diabetes associated with statin administration, age and ethnicity, and early menopause in females. Dyslipidemia in patients with HIV is different from the normal population, due to the fact that HIV increases insulin resistance and HIV treatment not only may induce dyslipidemia but also may interact with lipid-lowering medication. The use of all statins (apart from simvastatin and lovastatin) is safe and effective in HIV dyslipidemia, and the addition of ezetimibe, fenofibrate, fish oil, and niacin can be used in statin-unresponsive HIV dyslipidemia. The management of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease risks associated with HIV is complex, and a certain number of patients may require management in specialist clinics run by specialist physicians in lipid disorders. Future research is needed to address best strategies in the management of hyperlipidemia with HIV infection.

Emerging drugs for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

BACKGROUND

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition of emerging relevance that includes different forms of chronic liver damage, from a simple fatty infiltration (steatosis) of hepatocytes to steatohepatitis (NASH) with fibrosis. This last form may evolve to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

To discuss therapeutic management of NAFLD. Theoretically, only patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) need to be treated, as only NASH may evolve to cirrhosis. Differentiation between steatosis and NASH currently requires a liver biopsy.

METHODS

We discuss different therapeutic approaches proposed in literature for patients with NAFLD.

RESULTS

The treatment of associated conditions leads to an improvement of NAFLD and NASH. No specific drug is actually present to treat liver steatosis or NASH.

CONCLUSIONS

The treatment of NAFLD depends on the individual characteristics of each patient. Diet and physical exercise may be considered a basal universal approach. Future research will discover possible specific liver drugs.

Treatment of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: current views and perspectives

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is considered a component of the metabolic syndrome associated with obesity. Problems still exist concerning non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients in clinical practice, for example: (a) how to diagnose non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and its type; (b) how to select patients candidate to treatment; (c) how to treat selected patients. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease includes steatosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, but only non-alcoholic steatohepatitis evolves into cirrhosis and the absolute risk of mortality for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is low. As yet, no tools, other than liver biopsy, are available to differentiate the various types of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Many drugs are, currently, under study to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, even if well-performed trials are until necessary to define the best treatment. At the moment, the entity of the problem and the characteristics of patients frequently put the physician, in clinical practice, to choose the therapeutic approach arbitrarily which is considered more effective for each individual patient. Probably the future will consider the possibility of treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with more than one drug, by considering the various aspects and degree of this syndrome. Actually each physician should select the individual treatment on the basis of his/her knowledge and experience, by never forgetting the old saying 'primum non nocere'. However, the epidemiological entity of the problem, the characteristics of the patients, generally young, the frequent lack of clinical evidence of involvement of the liver, are all the factors that require vast well-performed clinical trials in order to define the best therapeutic approach for each individual patient.