ArticleEClinicalMedicine2023
FibroScan-aspartate aminotransferase (FAST) score for monitoring histological improvement in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis activity during semaglutide treatment: post-hoc analysis of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02970942 (This Trial is Conducted Globally. The Aim of This Trial is to Investigate Efficacy and Safety of Three Dose Levels of Subcutaneous Semaglutide Once Daily Versus Placebo in Subjects With Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
This Trial is Conducted Globally. The Aim of This Trial is to Investigate Efficacy and Safety of Three Dose Levels of Subcutaneous Semaglutide Once Daily Versus Placebo in Subjects With Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on histologic MASH: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Hepatology communications · 2026Pooled it
- EASL-EASD-EASO Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD).Obesity facts · 2024Guideline
- Exploration of Multiple Non-Invasive Tests for Assessing Response to Treatment in a Semaglutide Phase 2b Trial in Patients with MASH.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Trial
- HTD1801 demonstrates promising potential for histologic improvements in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis in both a preclinical and phase 2 study.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2025Trial
- Review
- Steatotic liver disease: non-invasive assessment and biomarkers across metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease with moderate alcohol consumption and alcohol-associated liver disease.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Review
- Therapeutic landscape evolution for steatotic liver disease: from lifestyle interventions to precision pharmacotherapy.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Review
- Transient Elastography and Fibroscan: Stethoscope of a Hepatologist in Today's World.Current hepatology reports · 2025Article
- Comparative effectiveness of tirzepatide versus bariatric metabolic surgery in adults with metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease and obesity: a multi-institutional propensity score-matched study.Hepatology international · 2025Article
- Semaglutide: a key medication for managing cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome.Future cardiology · 2025Review
- The new definition of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: the role of ultrasound and elastography.Ultrasonography (Seoul, Korea) · 2025Article
- Role of noninvasive tests in the prognostication of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2025Review
- Article
- Modeling Reductions in Liver Fat: Comparing Noninvasive Tests to Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Proton Density Fat Fraction.Gastro hep advances · 2025Article
- Long-term pioglitazone use in MASLD patients: insights from a multicentric preliminary study.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Currently, assessment of candidate pharmacotherapies in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) involves invasive liver biopsy. Non-invasive scores, such as the FibroScan-aspartate aminotransferase (FAST) score, are used to identify candidates for therapy, but their ability to assess disease progression or treatment effect is unknown. We aimed to assess the association between FAST score and histological endpoints. Methods: We conducted a post-hoc analysis using data from a prior randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial at 143 sites across 16 countries. Patients (aged 18-75 years) with biopsy-confirmed NASH, fibrosis stage 1-3, and a Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Activity Score (NAS) ≥4 were enrolled between January 2017 and September 2018, and randomly assigned to receive once-daily subcutaneous semaglutide 0.1, 0.2, or 0.4 mg or placebo for 72 weeks. A subgroup analysis of patients with FAST score and histological data in the pooled semaglutide treatment and placebo arms at baseline and week 72 was performed. The original trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02970942. Findings: A total of 122 patients were included in this post-hoc analysis (93 received semaglutide and 29 received placebo). FAST score reduction was associated with achieving the primary endpoint of NASH resolution without worsening of fibrosis in the pooled semaglutide group (area under the receiver operating curve 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58, 0.81). Mean FAST score reduction from baseline to week 72 was greatest in patients who met the primary endpoint Interpretation: The potential of the FAST score as a non-invasive monitoring tool to identify histological changes following treatment requires further evaluation and validation. Funding: Novo Nordisk A/S.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.