Empagliflozin for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

The efficacy of empagliflozin for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease remains controversial. This meta-analysis aims to explore the influence of empagliflozin versus placebo on the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and we have searched PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases through July 2021 for related randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Three RCTs involving 212 patients are included in the meta-analysis. Compared with control group for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, empagliflozin treatment has no improvement in controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) score, hepatic steatosis and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) score, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate-aminotransferase (AST), low density lipoprotein (LDL) or triglyceride (TG). These indicate that empagliflozin treatment may be not effective for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Keywords: Empagliflozin; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; randomized controlled trials; meta-analysis.