2024-03-22 09:24:26
In Germany, around 18 million people suffer from metabolic fatty liver disease, previously also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. A well-known drug could help here: low doses of acetylsalicylic acid (ASS) significantly reduced liver fat content in a study.
A study with 80 patients recently published in the journal JAMA shows that ASA reduced liver fat by an average of 10.2 percent. Patients received either low-dose aspirin (81 mg) or placebo once daily for six months. After six months, the liver fat content was determined using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. While liver fat decreased significantly in the ASA group, there was an increase of 3.6 percent in the placebo group.
“In this study, six months of daily administration of low-dose aspirin led to a significant reduction in the amount of liver fat in patients compared to placebo,” the authors summarize. How exactly ASA reduces the fat content of the liver is still unknown. Further studies with a larger sample are needed to confirm the results.
Previously, a small pilot study with 22 patients produced a similar result: the combined administration of ASA and clopidogrel led to a massive decrease in fatty deposits in the liver, even though the patients had maintained their unhealthy lifestyle. However, given the small number of patients, this study did not allow for any statistically useful conclusions. In addition, it was not possible to differentiate which effects were attributable to ASA and which to clopidogrel.
DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.1215
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