Research

Hormonal

Thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRβ) agonists and specific thyroid hormone metabolites (T2, T1AM) reduce hepatic lipid content and serum cholesterol in NAFLD and hypercholesterolemia models by stimulating fatty acid oxidation and cholesterol clearance without the cardiac side effects of natural thyroid hormones.

Current standard care for NAFLD focuses on lifestyle changes. However, emerging research indicates that specific thyroid hormone analogs and metabolites (like T2 and T1AM) are being developed to treat liver fat and high cholesterol. These are not yet available as standard treatments but represent a promising future direction for patients who do not respond to lifestyle interventions. Do not self-administer thyroid hormones; consult a specialist about clinical trials if eligible.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
TH receptor β analogs designed to have less side effects than the natural hormone are currently being tested in phase II clinical studies for NAFLD and hypercholesterolemia. The TH metabolites, 3,5-diiodo-L-thyronine (T2) and T1AM (3-iodothyronamine), have different beneficial effects on lipid metabolism compared with triiodothyronine (T3)... TH-based therapies show clinical promise for the treatment of NAFLD and hypercholesterolemia.
Rohit A. Sinha et al. · Thyroid · 2019

Why this rating

The paper is a review summarizing animal models and early-phase clinical trials; it does not present large-scale Phase III human data.

Source

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Hypercholesterolemia: Roles of Thyroid Hormones, Metabolites, and Agonists

Rohit A. Sinha et al. · Thyroid · 2019

DOI 10.1089/thy.2018.0664

narrative_reviewCited 262×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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