Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment for Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
Authors: James A. Thomas, Rohit Gupta, Guruprasad P. Aithal
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2017)

Letters7 February 2017Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment for Patients With Nonalcoholic SteatohepatitisJames A. Thomas, BM, PhD, Rohit Gupta, MBBS, and Guruprasad P. Aithal, MD, PhDJames A. Thomas, BM, PhDFrom The Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and Nottingham University Hospitals and University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this author, Rohit Gupta, MBBSFrom The Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and Nottingham University Hospitals and University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this author, and Guruprasad P. Aithal, MD, PhDFrom The Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and Nottingham University Hospitals and University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L16-0628 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We read Cusi and colleagues' study (1) about the effects of long-term pioglitazone therapy in patients with T2DM or prediabetes and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with great interest. The metabolic benefits and improvements in liver histologic characteristics are particularly important given the increasing burden of disease and current absence of alternative agents with convincing long-term data. This study extends our own findings about the effects of 12 months of pioglitazone therapy in nondiabetic participants with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. We also found improvements in histologic measures of liver injury and fibrosis with pioglitazone therapy (2).Liver fibrosis has recently been identified ...References1. Cusi K, Orsak B, Bril F, Lomonaco R, Hecht J, Ortiz-Lopez C, et al. Long-term pioglitazone treatment for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus. A randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2016;165:305-15. [PMID: 27322798]. doi:10.7326/M15-1774 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Aithal GP, Thomas JA, Kaye PV, Lawson A, Ryder SD, Spendlove I, et al. Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of pioglitazone in nondiabetic subjects with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Gastroenterology. 2008;135:1176-84. [PMID: 18718471] doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2008.06.047 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Angulo P, Kleiner DE, Dam-Larsen S, Adams LA, Bjornsson ES, Charatcharoenwitthaya P, et al. Liver fibrosis, but no other histologic features, is associated with long-term outcomes of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Gastroenterology. 2015;149:389-97. [PMID: 25935633] doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2015.04.043 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Agrawal S, Hoad CL, Francis ST, Guha IN, Kaye P, Aithal GP. Visual morphometry and three non-invasive markers in the evaluation of liver fibrosis in chronic liver disease. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2016:1-9. [PMID: 27617532] MedlineGoogle Scholar5. Hippisley-Cox J, Coupland C. Diabetes treatments and risk of heart failure, cardiovascular disease, and all cause mortality: cohort study in primary care. BMJ. 2016;354:i3477. [PMID: 27413012] doi:10.1136/bmj.i3477 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From The Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and Nottingham University Hospitals and University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L16-0628. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoLong-Term Pioglitazone Treatment for Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Kenneth Cusi , Beverly Orsak , Fernando Bril , Romina Lomonaco , Joan Hecht , Carolina Ortiz-Lopez , Fermin Tio , Jean Hardies , Celia Darland , Nicolas Musi , Amy Webb , and Paola Portillo-Sanchez Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment for Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Fernando Bril and Kenneth Cusi Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment for Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Stuart K. Sutton Metrics Cited byWhat Are the Current Pharmacological Therapies for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease?Drug Development for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Landscape and Challenges 7 February 2017Volume 166, Issue 3Page: 229-230KeywordsClinical trialsDisclosureFibrosisLiver fibrosisMortalityNon-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseNonalcoholic steatohepatitisPatientsRisk managementStatistical data ePublished: 7 February 2017 Issue Published: 7 February 2017 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2017 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...