Table 2.

Changes in histological features of the liver with different therapeutic agents.

Agent	Steatosis	Fibrosis	Hepatocyte ballooning	Lobular inflammation	NAS	Ref
Bicyclol	–	–	–	↓	↓	[12]
Cysteamine Bitartrate (CB)a	–	–	–	↓	–	[16]
l-carnitine	↓	↓	N	↓	N	[23]
Liraglutide a	↓	–	↓	–	–	[29]
Metformin	–	–	↓	–	–	[34]
Vitamin E	–	–	↓	–	↓	[34]
Obeticholic acid	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	[37]
Obeticholic acid	–	↓	↓a	↓a	–	[38]
Pentoxifylline	↓	↓	–	↓	↓	[44]
Pioglitazone	↓	↓	↓	↓	↓	[46] [48] [49]
Prebiotic (Oligofructose)	↓	–	–	–	↓	[51]
Prebiotic (Bifidobacterium longum with fructo-oligosaccharides)	↓	–	N	–	↓	[52]
Rosiglitazonea	↓	–	–	–	–	[54]
Selonsertiba	↓	↓	–	↓	↓	[57]
Silymarin	–	↓	–	–	–	[58]
UDCA	–	–	↓	–	–	[61]
DHA Plus Vitamin D b	↓	–	↓	↓	↓	[19]
DHA Plus Vitamin E & choline b	↓	–	↓	–	↓	[20]
UDCA Plus Vitamin E	↓	–	–	–	–	[62]
Pioglitazone Plus Vitamin E	–	–	↓	↓	–	[63]
Cenicriviroc	–	↓a	–	–	–	[64]
Statin	↓	↓	–	–	–	[74]
Ezetimibe	–	↓	↓	–	–	[80]
Resmetirom	–	–	–	–	↓	[39]

DHA: Docosahexaenoic Acid, NAS: NAFLD activity score, UDCA: Ursodeoxycholic acid.

N: Not determined.

↑: Increase.

↓: Decrease.

–: Not significantly effected.

^aData derived from percentage of “patients with improvement” in histological parameters.

^bResults of treatment at the end of the study compared with the baseline because the liver biopsy at the end of the study was performed in the active group alone for ethical reasons.