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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Obesity
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1468476

Potential Impact of Ezetimibe on Patients with NAFLD/NASH: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Provisionally accepted
Bolun Jiao Bolun Jiao *Bing Wang Bing Wang Boyan Liu Boyan Liu Jin Zhao Jin Zhao Yunhao Zhang Yunhao Zhang
  • Department of Endocrinology, Jinzhou Central Hospital, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most common cause of chronic liver disease. Studies have found that ezetimibe may be utilized as a supplemental treatment for NAFLD. Additionally, many clinical trials reported the potential impacts of ezetimibe on patients with NAFLD, although some conclusions remain controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of ezetimibe on patients with NAFLD. Method: Online search was conducted across databases including PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, VIP, and CNKI to retrieve all relevant controlled studies on the treatment of NAFLD with ezetimibe from the inception of the databases until April 2024. This meta-analysis comprised 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Statistical analysis was conducted using the Meta package in R v4.3.2. Results: A total of ten RCTs were included in this study, encompassing 578 patients (290 in the ezetimibe group and 288 in the control group) diagnosed with NAFLD/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The results indicated that ezetimibe significantly reduced levels of aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.01), glutamyl transferase (γ-GT) (P < 0.01), total cholesterol (P < 0.01), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.01), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P < 0.01), and interleukin-6 (P < 0.01), and markedly increased levels of glycated hemoglobin (P = 0.02). Conclusions: Ezetimibe may partially improve transaminase levels and positively impact liver function in patients with NAFLD/NASH.

    Keywords: Meta-analysis, NAFLD, NASH, ezetimibe, randomized controlled trials

    Received: 22 Jul 2024; Accepted: 20 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jiao, Wang, Liu, Zhao and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bolun Jiao, Department of Endocrinology, Jinzhou Central Hospital, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.