Efficacy of dapagliflozin to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis - PubMed (original) (raw)

Meta-Analysis

Efficacy of dapagliflozin to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis

Hua Duan et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2025.

Abstract

Introduction: Dapagliflozin shows some potential in treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease complicated with type 2 diabetes, and this meta-analysis aims to explore the efficacy of dapagliflozin vs placebo to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease complicated with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO and Cochrane library databases have been searched through July 2024, and we included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy of dapagliflozin for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease complicated with type 2 diabetes.

Results: Five RCTs and 353 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with control intervention in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes, dapagliflozin treatment was able to significantly decrease ALT (standard mean difference [SMD] = -1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.37 to -0.84; P < .00001), AST (MD = -1.32; 95% CI = -1.76 to -0.88; P < .00001) and HbA1c (SMD = -0.60; 95% CI = -1.02 to -0.17; P = .006), but demonstrated no influence on fasting glucose (SMD = -0.55; 95% CI = -1.10 to 0; P = .05), LDL-C (SMD = -0.19; 95% CI = -0.56 to 0.17; P = .30) or triglyceride (SMD = -0.30; 95% CI = -1.47 to 0.88; P = .62).

Conclusions: Dapagliflozin may benefit to treat patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes.

Copyright © 2025 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Flow diagram of study searching and selection process.

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Forest plot for the meta-analysis of ALT. ALT = alanine aminotransferase.

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Forest plot for the meta-analysis of AST. AST = aspartate-aminotransferase.

Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Forest plot for the meta-analysis of HbA1c.

Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Forest plot for the meta-analysis of fasting glucose.

Figure 6.

Figure 6.

Forest plot for the meta-analysis of LDL-C.

Figure 7.

Figure 7.

Forest plot for the meta-analysis of triglyceride.

References

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