Research

Hormonal

Pioglitazone improves NASH resolution and fibrosis stages in patients with T2DM and NAFLD, but its use is limited by side effects such as weight gain and bone fracture risk.

Pioglitazone is a diabetes medication that can also improve liver inflammation and fibrosis in fatty liver disease. However, it can cause weight gain, swelling, and increase the risk of bone fractures. It is generally used when other treatments are not suitable or effective, and the benefits for the liver must be weighed against these risks.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
thiazolidinedione therapy was associated with amelioration of advanced fibrosis (OR: 3.15; CI: 1.25–7.93; p = 0.01), fibrosis of any stage (OR: 1.66; CI: 1.12–2.47; p = 0.01), and resolution of NASH (OR: 3.22; CI: 2.17–4.79; p < 0.001). Although the benefit of thiazolidinediones on NAFLD and NASH is well-established, their usage is limited now mainly because of their side effects, especially weight gain, lower limb edema, and high risk for bone fracture
Cosmina-Theodora Diaconu et al. · Journal of Clinical Medicine · 2022

Why this rating

Supported by data showing significant odds ratios for fibrosis and NASH resolution.

Source

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Its Complex Relation with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus—From Prevalence to Diagnostic Approach and Treatment Strategies

Cosmina-Theodora Diaconu et al. · Journal of Clinical Medicine · 2022

DOI 10.3390/jcm11175144

narrative_reviewCited 21×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →