Research at the University of Arizona suggests a commonly undiagnosed form of liver disease linked to obesity may cause toxic levels of a common diabetes drug to stay in the body.
A form of liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, affects between six to seventeen percent of Americans. The often undetected disease forms when there is too much fat in the liver, a common effect of obesity.
UA research on mice suggests the presence of NASH then may impact the kidney’s ability to eliminate the common diabetes drug metformin. UA’s John Clarke said it is still unclear what causes the kidney to retain potentially toxic levels of metformin.
“There’s an association between chronic kidney disease and NASH," said Clarke. "But what we don’t know is what’s happening with the drug transporters in the kidney. With NASH and diabetes, there’s a possibility that in humans, there is a change in the transporters that are going to be eliminating the drug into the urine though the kidney.”
Clarke said the study may lead to individualized treatment based on drug metabolization.
