title: A comparison of the effects of infliximab, adalimumab, and pentoxifylline on rats with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) lacks effective medical treatment. Since tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) plays an important role in NASH pathogenesis, we aimed to investigate drugs affecting TNF-α as possible treatment options during the development of NASH.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 35 rats were divided into five groups and evaluated over a 6 week period. One group received a normal diet alone or in combination with the administration of infliximab, adalimumab or pentoxifylline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NASH was successfully established in the MCD diet group. Levels of TNF-α were effectively suppressed in the three groups that received anti-TNF agents. No statistically significant differences were observed between the three agents in terms of the histological NASH score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that the anti-TNF agents infliximab, adalimumab, and pentoxifylline effectively suppress TNF-α. Although these drugs did not prevent the development of NASH, they were able to slightly reverse the NASH histopathology score and positively affect liver function tests.
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, İzmir, Turkey. mustafa.yalcin@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yalcin
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akarsu
authors.forename: Aslı
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Ozgul
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sagol
authors.forename: Sunay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tunali
authors.forename: Ozge
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ertener
authors.forename: Göksel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bengi
authors.forename: Hale
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akpinar
mesh_terms: D000068879:Adalimumab; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000069285:Infliximab; D008297:Male; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010431:Pentoxifylline / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab; D000068879:Adalimumab; D010431:Pentoxifylline