Meeting Coverage > > CROI– Weekly injections minimized liver fat by 31% at 6 months
by Tara Haelle, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today March 8, 2024
DENVER– Semaglutide (Ozempic) decreased the quantity of liver fat by almost a 3rd in individuals with HIV and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver illness (MASLD), the open-label stage IIb SLIM LIVER research study revealed.
In the single-arm trial, the outright modification in intrahepatic triglyceride (IHTG) material throughout all individuals was -4.2% (95% CI -5.4 to -3.1, P< 0.001) following 6 months of weekly injections, comparable to a relative decrease of 31.3% (95% CI -39 to -23.6, P< 0.001), reported Jordan Lake, MD, MSc, of UTHealth Houston, at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
Improvements in IHTG associated with weight-loss and other metabolic procedures.
MASLD, previously called nonalcoholic fatty liver illness, prevails amongst individuals with HIV and most likely show HIV infection to speed up hepatic injury and organ dysfunction, Lake stated. Build-up of fat deposits in the liver can trigger swelling and cellular damage that can add to cardiovascular and liver illness.
According to the NIH, MASLD is the prominent factor in the U.S. for liver hair transplant. It impacts an approximated 30% to 40% of individuals with HIV, somewhat greater than the average amongst individuals without HIV.
Semaglutide has actually revealed advantages in individuals with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (now metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), and the SLIM LIVER research study intended to identify whether it might enhance liver metrics in individuals with HIV.
David Lee Thomas, MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who was not associated with the research study, stated it is “extremely interesting to see the effect of this brand-new class of medications on a medically considerable and formerly difficult-to-treat issue.”
“HIV is pro-fibrogenic, so with hep C, hep B, alcohol, and fat, there’s more cirrhosis in individuals with HIV,” Thomas stated. “We understand we can deal with 2 of the 4– liver disease B and liver disease C– and avoid those results, however we have not truly had a treatment previously for fatty liver illness. We’ll most likely aim to this research study as one of the more vital, turning points when we reframed how we approached steatotic liver illness.”
Thomas acknowledged, nevertheless, that there stays a lot to find out. “There’s a great deal of concerns we have about stopping dosages, about whom to deal with and for how long to deal with, which sort of thing,” he informed MedPage Today“But, in the start, to see that there is a clear association with decreases in fat is great. Now we require to ask, is that likewise related to decreases in swelling? Is that likewise connected with decreases in fibrosis build-up?”
SLIM LIVER registered 51 grownups with HIV on suppressive antiretroviral treatment (ART) who had a raised waist area of a minimum of 95 cm for males and 94 cm for ladies.