Although there is no approved treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a study published in an international journal found that oral chronic hepatitis B treatment is effective in curing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Professor Seong Pil-soo (corresponding author) and Department of Biomedical Health Sciences master’s course researcher Purun Noh (first author) used an animal model (rat) from the Catholic University of Korea Seoul (first author) an animal model (rat) on the 24th. to confirm that tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) is effective It was revealed that this was the first to note an improvement in non-alcoholic fatty liver.
Tenofovir alafenamide is a new targeted product of tenofovir, which was first approved in the United States in 2016 as an oral treatment for adults with chronic hepatitis B. Tenofovir alafenamide has a differential mechanism of action that delivers active ingredients more efficiently to hepatocytes with better plasma stability compared to existing chronic hepatitis B drugs.
As a result, systemic drug exposure in plasma was reduced by approximately 89% and kidney and bone safety was improved.
The important thing is that tenofovir alafenamide has a strong antiviral effect like the current drug, but also improves liver function (the normalization rate of ALT is further improved), but the mechanism has not been identified so far.
Professor Sung’s team used a non-alcoholic fatty liver animal model and confirmed that blood ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase) levels improved and liver cell damage was reduced when tenofovir alafenamide was administered.
In addition, for the first time, it was noted that tenofovir alafenamide inhibits the activation of AKT protein in hepatocytes (mononuclear phagocytes in the liver) to have an anti-inflammatory effect and improve non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
A healthy liver has about 5% of its weight in fat, and if more fat is deposited, it is called a fatty liver.
Fatty liver is often thought of as alcoholic, caused by excessive drinking, but 80% of non-alcoholic fatty liver occurs without drinking alcohol. Diagnosis is made by ultrasound of the liver and abdomen and blood tests that measure the levels of liver enzymes such as ALT and AST, which are released into the blood when the liver is damaged. Most are asymptomatic and are often found incidentally during examinations for other purposes.
Professor Pil-soo Seong said, “This study is meaningful in providing a theoretical basis to explain that tenofovir alafenamide has a significantly higher liver function normalization rate than other antiviral drugs.”
Professor Sung continued, “Currently, there is no drug approved for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, so active weight loss, proper diet and aerobic exercise are recommended for patients. The it is hoped that it will be possible to prevent patients from progressing to severe liver disease.”
Meanwhile, the results of this study were published on November 3 in ‘Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy,’ an international journal in the field of pharmacology. He received support from the Seoul Saint Mary’s Hospital lead investigator research fund and technology commercialization research fund, and individual basic research from the National Research Foundation.
