Zhou, Xiao-Dong, Fan, Qiong-Yue, Byrne, Christopher D., Targher, Giovanni, Muthiah, Mark D., Huang, Daniel Q., Chen, Qin-Fen, Noureddin, Mazen, Li, Wenhao, Ratziu, Vlad, Loomba, Rohit, Francque, Sven M., Sanyal, Arun J. and Zheng, Ming-Hua (2025) Combination therapies for MASH: challenges and opportunities. Gut. (doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2025-337431).
Abstract
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a multifactorial metabolic liver disease that occurs in the context of obesity, insulin resistance and cardiometabolic comorbidities. Monotherapy targeting single pathways often provides only partial improvements in histological liver fibrosis and systemic metabolic parameters, prompting growing interest in multitargeted combination therapies. Multitargeted and combination strategies for MASH can modulate multiple and complementary pathogenic processes, potentially improving efficacy, promoting liver fibrosis regression, optimising systemic metabolic outcomes and reducing treatment-related adverse effects. Liver-directed combination therapies, such as thyroid hormone receptor-beta (THR-β) agonists along with acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inhibitors or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor agonists, aim to improve histological features of MASH. Regimens combining systemic metabolic and liver-specific agents, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists with fibroblast growth factor-21 analogues or THR-β agonists, aim to optimise metabolic outcomes, including body weight, insulin resistance and plasma lipids. Thoughtfully designed drug pairings, such as diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 inhibitors combined with ACC inhibitors or GLP-1 and glucagon receptor dual agonists, could improve safety and tolerability by leveraging complementary mechanisms that may mitigate adverse effects. These therapeutic strategies aim to achieve more comprehensive and durable improvements in both liver pathology and systemic health than single-agent therapy alone. This review integrates current knowledge on multitargeted and combination therapies for MASH, examines mechanistic rationales and emerging clinical evidence and addresses practical considerations for patient-centred implementation. Therefore, we aim to provide clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive framework to optimise individualised management and improve both hepatic and systemic outcomes in individuals living with MASH.
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