The Co-Existence of NASH and Chronic Kidney Disease Boosts Cardiovascular Risk: Are there any Common Therapeutic Options?

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming the most common chronic liver disease. NAFLD may evolve to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is causally related to cirrhosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. There is no generally accepted effective treatment for NAFLD/NASH. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is relatively common and might co-exist with NAFLD/NASH, aggravate one another, and increase CVD risk. Common therapies could improve outcome. Potent statins at high doses, such as atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, ameliorate NAFLD/NASH and reduce the mortality rates by half as compared with those on the same statins but without liver disease and CVD-related events are reduced by atorvastatin for patients with all stages of CKD. The new anti-diabetic medication classes, the sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and the glucagon like peptide receptor agonists (GLP1 RA) for patients with NAFLD/NASH, CKD and T2DM are useful because they ameliorate NAFLD/NASH, delay the evolution of CKD, and substantially reduce CVD and all-cause mortality. Thus, the common use of high potency statins, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors, and the newer anti-diabetic agents increase compliance and can substantially reduce CVD risk and the rate of liver and kidney adverse events, improving quality of life and survival.