We aimed to compare the effectiveness of liraglutide vs. pioglitazone on hepatic fat content and serum fetuin A levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

This was a single-center, open-label, prospective, and randomized trial using a parallel design and lasting 24 weeks. Sixty patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease were randomly assigned to the liraglutide and pioglitazone groups on a 1:1 basis using a computer-generated sequence. Fetuin-A levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hepatic fat content was measured using proton ¹H-MRS on a 1.5T whole-body MRI scanner. All analyses were performed with SPSS version 13.0.

In the liraglutide group, fetuin-A levels decreased after 24 weeks (666.1±109.4 vs. 443.7±90.5μg/mL, P<0.05). In the pioglitazone group, fetuin-A levels also decreased after 24 weeks (659.3±111.8 vs. 538.1± 101.0μg/mL, P<0.05) but not to the level of the liraglutide group. The liraglutide treatment resulted in a decrease in ¹H-MRS (24.1±3.0 vs. 20.1±3.8, P<0.05). After 24 weeks, ΔFetuin-A was positively correlated with Δweight (r=0.756, P=0.035), ΔBMI (r=0.653, P=0.006), Δwaist circumference (r=0.767, P=0.010), and Δ¹H-MRS (r=0.732, P=0.004) in the liraglutide group.

Liraglutide treatment resulted in a decrease in hepatic fat content and fetuin-A compared with pioglitazone treatment in patients with T2DM and NAFLD. Fetuin-A is positively correlated with weight and hepatic fat content. The reduction in the hepatic fat content may be attributed to weight loss rather than reduction of glucose.