Efficacy of Tiopronin in treatment of severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinicopathologic syndrome of which the main feature is diffuse macrovesicular hepatic steatosis caused by de - position of excessive free fatty acid and triglyc - eride in liver parenchyma. AIM: To observe the efficacy of Tiopronin in treatment of severe nonalcoholic fatty liver dis - ease (NAFLD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 30 patients with severe NAFLD were treated with Tiopronin for 3 months. 30 healthy people were selected as con - trol. The body mass index (BMI) and plasma lev - els of endotoxin (ET), leptin, IL-6 and IL-8 were measured before and after treatment. RESULTS: The serum levels of ET, leptin, IL-6 and IL-8 in severe NAFLD group were signifi - cantly higher than those in control group ( p < 0.05). After treatment with Tiopronin, these in - dexes were significantly lower than before ( p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The intestinal endotoxemia (IETM) occurs in patients with severe NAFLD. Leptin, IL-6 and IL-8 play important roles in pathogenesis of NAFLD. Tiopronin can reduce the levels of ET, leptin, IL-6 and IL-8 for treat - ment of NAFLD.