Active clinical trials for "Cholangitis, Sclerosing"

The purpose of this research is to study body materials like blood proteins as well as white blood cell and liver cellular RNA in individuals with liver diseases such as chronic viral hepatitis with or without hepatoma and autoimmune liver disease. Presently it is not understood how infection with chronic viral hepatitis or autoimmune liver disease damages the liver. This research study enroll patients with either chronic viral hepatitis with or without hepatoma or autoimmune liver disease. The purpose of this study is to find the genes that are expressed in both the circulating white blood cells and the liver of patients with varying degrees of liver damage of different causes. Genes are biological messengers some of which determine how the body responds to injury. We anticipate that results from Differential Gene Expression (DGE) analysis will allow us to make predictions about likelihood of disease progression and/or response to treatment. In addition we will test the blood for markers of injury. The blood collected will be prepared differently from the liver tissue. We will use technologies to express pure proteins and then we will investigate the functions of these proteins. Nearly all drugs act on proteins, not genes, so understanding proteins is the key to really effective new medicines. Similarly the first signs of ill health appear in changes to the body's blood proteins, making them the most sensitive diagnostic indicators. The studies we plan are called proteomics. We will later correlate the patterns of gene expression in both circulating white blood cells and the liver tissue with clinical outcome and patterns of proteins measured in blood and we hope to gain an understanding of how the disease process occurs, which may in turn help us to make more precise diagnoses and develop new forms of treatment. These techniques that we use are still experimental and so we do not yet know if they will be helpful in monitoring changes which may help us to predict the potential severity of your liver disease or even if they can be used to indicate who will best respond to treatment.

This study aims to prospectively assess the repeatability and reproducibility of iron-corrected T1 (cT1), T2*, and hepatic proton density fat fraction (PDFF) quantification with multiparametric MRI using the LiverMultiScan™ (LMS, Perspectum Diagnostics, Oxford, UK) protocol across different field strengths, scanner manufacturers and models.

For some years investigators have known that the health of fathers at the time their baby is conceived has an influence on the health of their child in the future. Many studies looking at this effect have investigated fathers with obesity and other metabolic disorders. These disorders can alter the risk of obesity and diabetes in the children of these men. More recently, studies have been undertaken to establish the mechanism by which this risk is inherited by the children. Studies of sperm have identified that changes in the structure and function of the sperm play a role. Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) and Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) are included in a group of cholestatic liver disorders that are associated with elevated levels of bile acids in the blood (cholestasis). A previous study has established that children born to women who have cholestasis during pregnancy are at an increased risk of obesity later in life. Our study will investigate whether there is a similar effect on the health of children if their father has cholestasis. The study has 2 arms, the Sperm Epigenome arm and the Outcomes arm. In the Sperm Epigenome arm of the study, the structure and function of sperm from men with PSC, PBC and other cholestatic liver disorders will be investigated and compared to the structure and function of sperm from healthy men. In the Outcomes arm of the study, basic health parameters of fathers who had PSC, PBC or another cholestatic liver disease either before or after their child was conceived will be studied. Basic health parameters will also be studied in their child when the child is between 16 and 25 years of age.

PSC is a chronic cholestatic disorder. The investigators intend to study some telomere parameters and telomere length in order to predict a premalignant state.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic disorder of the liver causing jaundice and liver damage. When Cystic Fibrosis affects the liver, the damaged liver looks like the liver in PSC. This study is designed to answer the question whether isolated PSC may be a form of CF only in the liver

The purpose of this study is to assess the interobserver agreement (IOV) for pancreatico-biliary Volumetric Laser Endomicroscopy (VLE) de-identified clips using the new VLE criteria. This is an Interobserver study to validate VLE criteria for indeterminate biliary and pancreatic duct strictures and evaluate impact on clinical management.