Liver Meeting 2017: Diabetes Medications Have Different Effects on the Liver

Conference Coverage from
The Liver Meeting 2017: American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)

Diabetes Medications Have Different Effects on the Liver

Damian McNamara

October 26, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC — For people with advanced liver fibrosis due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who also have type 2 diabetes, outcomes are better with metformin than with sulfonylureas, results from a large international trial show.

"The patients who use metformin can see a long-term benefit," Eduardo Vilar-Gomez, MD, from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, said here at The Liver Meeting 2017.

With metformin, survival improves and the risk for hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma decreases.

"The bad news is that taking sulfonylureas can increase mortality and increase hepatic decompensation, in particular, in those taking sulfonylurea monotherapy," he told Medscape Medical News.

Therefore, clinicians should to "try to identify patients with higher rates of decompensation and avoid administration of sulfonylureas," he advised.

Read the article at Medscape......