Treatment of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease With n-3 Fatty Acids

Summary

Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) imposes a high and increasing burden on the NHS, yet there is presently no licensed treatment or validated approach to management. NAFLD predisposes to increased risk of type 2 diabetes, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and may progress to chronic irreversible liver disease. In NAFLD patients, the investigators will test the hypothesis that treatment with long chain n-3 fatty acid supplementation for 18 months favourably influences bio-markers for NAFLD and risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Timeline

Start

2009-11-01

Primary completion

2013-11-01

Completion

2018-11-29

Publications

• Background Scorletti E, Bhatia L, McCormick KG, Clough GF, Nash K, Calder PC, Byrne CD; WELCOME Trial Investigators. Design and rationale of the WELCOME trial: A randomised, placebo controlled study to test the efficacy of purified long chainomega-3 fatty acid treatment in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [corrected]. Contemp Clin Trials. 2014 Mar;37(2):301-11. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2014.02.002. Epub 2014 Feb 18.
• Background Guha IN, Parkes J, Roderick P, Chattopadhyay D, Cross R, Harris S, Kaye P, Burt AD, Ryder SD, Aithal GP, Day CP, Rosenberg WM. Noninvasive markers of fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Validating the European Liver Fibrosis Panel and exploring simple markers. Hepatology. 2008 Feb;47(2):455-60. doi: 10.1002/hep.21984.
• Background Angulo P, Hui JM, Marchesini G, Bugianesi E, George J, Farrell GC, Enders F, Saksena S, Burt AD, Bida JP, Lindor K, Sanderson SO, Lenzi M, Adams LA, Kench J, Therneau TM, Day CP. The NAFLD fibrosis score: a noninvasive system that identifies liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. Hepatology. 2007 Apr;45(4):846-54. doi: 10.1002/hep.21496.
• Results Scorletti E, Bhatia L, McCormick KG, Clough GF, Nash K, Hodson L, Moyses HE, Calder PC, Byrne CD; WELCOME Study. Effects of purified eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: results from the Welcome* study. Hepatology. 2014 Oct;60(4):1211-21. doi: 10.1002/hep.27289.
• Hodson L, Bhatia L, Scorletti E, Smith DE, Jackson NC, Shojaee-Moradie F, Umpleby M, Calder PC, Byrne CD. Docosahexaenoic acid enrichment in NAFLD is associated with improvements in hepatic metabolism and hepatic insulin sensitivity: a pilot study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017 Aug;71(8):973-979. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2017.9. Epub 2017 Mar 15.
• Clough GF, McCormick KG, Scorletti E, Bhatia L, Calder PC, Griffin MJ, Byrne CD. Higher body fat percentage is associated with enhanced temperature perception in NAFLD: results from the randomised Wessex Evaluation of fatty Liver and Cardiovascular markers in NAFLD with OMacor thErapy trial (WELCOME) trial. Diabetologia. 2016 Jul;59(7):1422-1429. doi: 10.1007/s00125-016-3966-8. Epub 2016 Apr 22.
• Bhatia L, Scorletti E, Curzen N, Clough GF, Calder PC, Byrne CD. Improvement in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease severity is associated with a reduction in carotid intima-media thickness progression. Atherosclerosis. 2016 Mar;246:13-20. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.12.028. Epub 2015 Dec 24.
• Byrne CD, Targher G. Time to Replace Assessment of Liver Histology With MR-Based Imaging Tests to Assess Efficacy of Interventions for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2016 Jan;150(1):7-10. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.11.016. Epub 2015 Nov 18. No abstract available.
• Scorletti E, West AL, Bhatia L, Hoile SP, McCormick KG, Burdge GC, Lillycrop KA, Clough GF, Calder PC, Byrne CD. Treating liver fat and serum triglyceride levels in NAFLD, effects of PNPLA3 and TM6SF2 genotypes: Results from the WELCOME trial. J Hepatol. 2015 Dec;63(6):1476-83. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2015.07.036. Epub 2015 Aug 10.
• McCormick KG, Scorletti E, Bhatia L, Calder PC, Griffin MJ, Clough GF, Byrne CD. Impact of high dose n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid treatment on measures of microvascular function and vibration perception in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: results from the randomised WELCOME trial. Diabetologia. 2015 Aug;58(8):1916-25. doi: 10.1007/s00125-015-3628-2. Epub 2015 May 29.
• Byrne CD, Targher G. Ectopic fat, insulin resistance, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: implications for cardiovascular disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2014 Jun;34(6):1155-61. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.114.303034. Epub 2014 Apr 17.
• Targher G, Byrne CD. Clinical Review: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a novel cardiometabolic risk factor for type 2 diabetes and its complications. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Feb;98(2):483-95. doi: 10.1210/jc.2012-3093. Epub 2013 Jan 4.

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