The efficacy of ezetimibe on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

The usefulness of ezetimibe was examined in 297 patients with dyslipidemia who did not achieve LDL-C target levels set in JAS 2007 Guidelines by lifestyle modification. The mean period of administration was 178.2±295.4 days. Ezetimibe significantly improved serum lipid levels in the patients with and without non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (p<0.01). Significant improvement of AST, ALT and γ GTP levels were also observed in the patients with NAFLD (p<0.01, p<0.05, and p<0.01, respectively). Seventy of the patients with NAFLD who underwent abdominal ultrasound before and after administration of ezetimibe were followed. Of those, 38.6% of the patients showed disappearance of steatosis, indicating that administration of ezetimibe is useful in patients with NAFLD.