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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is of increasing prevalence globally. While lifestyle modifications are recommended, many patients do not succeed to achieve significant and maintained weight loss from lifestyle and as such there is a high unmet need for pharmacotherapy in this group. Comparable to other metabolic diseases including diabetes and dyslipidaemia, a high proportion of patients will likely benefit from permanent pharmacological therapy. Currently there are many compounds with different mechanisms of action in clinical development including metabolic, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic drugs. A number of phase 3 clinical trials are currently ongoing including Elafibranor, a dual PPAR α/δ agonist, Cenicriviroc, a CCR2/CCR5 chemokine antagonist, the nuclear bile acid receptor FXR agonist obeticholic acid, Aramchol, a fatty acid bile acid conjugate that modulates SCD-1, and Resmetrion, a liver-specific THR-β agonist. Further studies with promising pathophysiological mechanisms of action, e. g. the ASK-1 inhibitor Selonsertib or the caspase inhibitor Emricasan have shown negative results. However, some are being further evaluated in combination therapies. The complex pathophysiology of the disease, which combines inflammation, metabolism and fibrosis, has led to the fact that even combinations of several substances are investigated with different modes of action. This review summarizes pivotal clinical trials for patients with NASH in the absence of cirrhosis which are recruiting in the fall of 2019.Die nichtalkoholische Fettleber (NAFLD) ist die am stärksten zunehmende Lebererkrankung weltweit. Vielen Patienten gelingt es nicht, durch eine Änderung des Lebensstils einen positiven Einfluss auf die Erkrankung zu erzielen, und der Bedarf an einer pharmakologischen Therapie in dieser Gruppe ist hoch. In Analogie zu anderen metabolischen Erkrankungen wie z. B. dem Diabetes mellitus Typ 2 oder Fettstoffwechselstörungen wird vermutlich ein großer Teil von Patienten eine dauerhafte medikamentöse Therapie benötigten. Derzeit sind mehrere Substanzen mit verschiedenen pathophysiologischen Ansätzen in klinischer Testung. Dabei können metabolische, antiinflammatorische und antifibrotische Wirkmechanismen unterschieden werden. Mehrere Substanzen befinden sich bereits in Phase-3-Studien. Dazu zählen Elafibranor (PPAR-α/δ-Agonist), Cenicriviroc (CCR2/CCR5-Inhibitor), Obeticholsäure (FXR-Agonist), Aramchol (SCD1-Modulator) und Resmetrion (Thyroid-Hormon-Rezeptor-beta-Agonist). Weitere Studien mit pathophysiologisch vielversprechenden Wirkmechanismen, z. B. dem ASK-1-Inhibitor Selonsertib oder dem Caspase-Inhibitor Emricasan, haben bislang negative Ergebnisse gezeigt, werden jedoch z. T. in Kombinationstherapien weiter evaluiert. Die komplexe Pathophysiologie der Erkrankung, die Entzündung, Stoffwechsel und Fibrose verknüpft, hat dazu geführt, dass auch Kombinationen mehrerer Substanzen mit verschiedenen Wirkansätzen untersucht werden. Die vorliegende Übersicht fasst die Ende 2019 in klinischen Studien der Phase 3 befindlichen Substanzen für Patienten mit NASH ohne Leberzirrhose zusammen.

Background Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a serious complication of liver cirrhosis. The proportion of patients with liver cirrhosis attending German hospitals suffering from HE is unknown. Methods In the first part of the study, data of 14 community hospitals and 5 university hospitals covering the years 2010 and 2011 were analyzed retrospectively for the DRG codes of liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy. In the second prospective part of the multicenter observational study, all patients with liver cirrhosis attending the departments of gastroenterology of 16 participating community hospitals within a study period of 3 months were included and screened for HE clinically according to the West Haven criteria (grades 1 – 4). Results A diagnosis of liver cirrhosis has been coded in 6366 cases in 2010 and in 7279 cases in 2011. In the vast majority of hospitals, less than 20 % of these cases had an additional DRG code for HE. Two hundred seventy-eight patients with liver cirrhosis were included into the prospective study. A clinically detectable HE was present in 36 % of the patients (n = 99). The majority was classified as West Haven 1 (n = 59, 59.6 %). Of the patients without clinical sings of HE, 48 % (n = 134) showed a pathological NCT. Conclusion Our data suggest that HE is underdiagnosed in German hospitals. Since treatment of HE may improve the prognosis of the patients as well as their quality of life, hospitalized patients with liver cirrhosis should be routinely screened for HE.