Active clinical trials for "Hepatic Encephalopathy"

There is very little data related to the natural history of disease from covert HE (MHE and grade 1 HE) to overt HE (grades II, III and IV) in ACLF, with implications on long-term neurological recovery after an episode of overt HE. The evolution and pathogenesis of HE is well described in ALF and cirrhosis, but the dynamic changes in HE in ACLF in response to therapy such as ammonia reduction measures, antibiotics to target sepsis and inflammation, measures to alter dysbiosis such as probiotics or fecal microbiota transplant, and measures to target immune dysfunction such as steroids in alcohol-associated hepatitis. The central role of ammonia in the pathogenesis of HE in ACLF has been challenged by recent data. The approach to HE in ACLF has now refocused on systemic and neuro-inflammation, gut dysbiosis, immune dysregulation, and multi-omics approach. Most importantly, the modulation of the metabolome in response to therapy and interventions, and the use of sedatives, paralytic agents, antibiotics etc. in ACLF with HE in a real-world setting has not been reported.

Hepatic encephalopathy is the most common complication after TIPS, and hepatic encephalopathy occurs in almost all portosystemic shunts. For patients with severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding or refractory ascites in the decompensated chronic hepatitis B, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a very effective treatment. However, due to the severe complications such as hepatic encephalopathy after TIPS, the clinical application of TIPS is limited. Literature studies have shown that the incidence of encephalopathy after TIPS is about 35%. TIPS reduces the portal vena blood flow into the liver by establishing a new channel. But at the same time, the toxic substances from the gastrointestinal tract and other organs do not enter the liver to detoxify, and are more likely to enter the brain, leading to hepatic encephalopathy. Moreover, studies have found that the liver and the intestine originate from the same germ layer and are closely related to each other in anatomy and function. There are a large number of microorganisms living in the intestinal tract. Normally, the intestinal tract, as the first defense of the human body, can effectively prevent bacteria and their products from entering the bloodstream. In cirrhosis and portal hypertension, blood return disorder causes intestinal damage. A series of microbes and product endotoxins such as gram-negative bacteria will enter the blood through the injury, and the toxins in the peripheral blood will enter the brain and cause hepatic encephalopathy happened. The research team's early treatment plan with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine proved that it greatly reduced the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy after TIPS. And improve the clinical symptoms and signs of patients with liver cirrhosis, and improve the quality of life and survival of patients.

Despite standard of care, the recurrence of hepatic encephalopathy remains the primary cause for readmissions in individuals with cirrhosis. Patients with cirrhosis have disturbed gut microbiota, which is exacerbated by repeated antibiotic usage. FMT is a promising therapy to restore a healthy microbiota. FMT causes change in composition of gut microbiota which will lead to increase in commensal bacterial diversity which will increase colonization resistance to pathogenic bacteria and thereby decrease the bacterial overgrowth. Healthy bacteria also increase the SCFA production in colon with is and nutrient for endothelial cells and thereby protect the endothelial integrity and decreases bacterial translocation and endotoxemia. Current standard of care mainly focuses on the treatment of precipitating factors of the HE. The goal of our open-label, randomised clinical trial is to evaluate the safety, efficacy of addition of FMT to SOC in preventing subsequent episodes of hepatic encephalopathy.

Hypothesis: Improvement in cognitive dysfunction with IV albumin in patients with cirrhosis with prior HE and MHE lasts for several weeks after albumin infusion has ended, and is due to persistent improvement in inflammatory markers, endothelial dysfunction, albumin function and gut microbial changes. This will be a single-arm, single-blind sequential trial of IV 25% albumin and IV saline over 8 weeks with biological sampling and cognitive and health related quality of life (HRQOL) testing with each subject acting as their own control

There is a great unmet clinical need for improved screening for MHE in patients with cirrhosis. We will demonstrate that the Flicker-App can be used in clinic as well as at home by patients with cirrhosis to measure CFF, a proven screening test for MHE. We will optimize the protocol, software, and hardware of the Flicker-App to create a product appropriate for production and distribution to patients

Patients with advanced chronic liver diseases treated at the Vienna General Hospital of the Medical University of Vienna will be offered to participate in this prospective observational trial. Clinical parameters and laboratory parameters will be recorded for all patients and patients will undergo a regular follow-up schedule with clinical visits at the Vienna General Hospital. This study is linked to a biobank with serum/plasma, ascitic fluid, urine, GI tract mucosal biopsies, liver biopsies and stool collected from the study participants.

Prediction of hepatic encephalopathy after insertion of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunt (post-TIPS HE) are critical for patient selection prior to TIPS insertion, and a currently unmet, clinically highly relevant need. In this prospective multicenter observational cohort study, the investigators aim to evaluate the ability of Stroop EncephalApp and the simplified Animal Naming Test (S-ANT1) in comparison to the goldstandard PHES to predict the occurence of post-TIPS HE in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis. Moreover, secondary aims of this study include the detection of potential blood based biomarkers for prediction of post-TIPS HE and the predictive value of frailty and quality of life/sleep prior to TIPS insertion.

The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of colistin versus lactulose for secondary prophylaxis of overt hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Vegetables are thought to be beneficial not only because of their high content of fiber, which promotes bacterial fermentation and decreases colonic transit time, decreasing ammonia absorption from the gut, but also because of their high BCAA content, low methionine and tryptophan contents, and the induction of gut microbiota which, in turn, increases fecal nitrogen excretion. Also the fact supporting the underlying rationale for the use of vegetable proteins is that dietary fiber contributes to the improvement of glycemic control in these patients. Smaller sample studies also support the idea that vegetable based protein diets have better effect on cognition in patients with HE; in these studies vegetable protein diet was compared to meat protein diet and patients with HE showed improvement in cognition on former diets. However, no positive effects were shown by Shaw or Chiarino. Similarly, another older single blind crossover study (n=10) showed that as compared to meat proteins, vegan diet has a better effect on mental status as determined on psychometric testing in patients with HE. As a result of the limited studies and small number of participants of the effect of vegetable proteins on HE, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a vegetable versus mixed animal and vegetable protein diet on hepatic encephalopathy.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of lactoferrin as an adjunct therapy in improving clinical symptoms and laboratory indices in individuals with hepatic encephalopathy.