Active clinical trials for "Liver Diseases"

Liver transplantation (LT) is one of the widely recognised and leading treatments for end-stage liver disease. Nutrition impacts its success. Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is usually prescribed for patients recommended prolonged fasting after LT. The supplement of SMOFlipid (soybean oil, MCT oil, olive oil, and fish oil) is easily metabolised to produce energy, and it possesses anti-inflammatory effects; however, SMOFlipid emulsion use raises concerns regarding coagulopathy after LT. This study investigated the postoperative correlation between SMOFlipid and coagulation in LT.

The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability, reproducibility and accuracy of the paediatric probe of transient elastography in detecting liver fibrosis in children, besides its limitations and side effects. At the same time, to assess whether indirect fibrosis markers are a valid tool to detect absence or mild fibrosis in paediatric patients

With the rapid development of intensive care medicine, the mortality of patients with sepsis has decreased over the past decade, but it is still the leading cause of death in intensive care unit (ICU). As an important immune and metabolic organ, the liver plays a crucial role in host defense against invading pathogens and endotoxins, as well as maintenance of metabolic and immunological homeostasis. Some studies indicate that sepsis-associated liver dysfunction (SALD) has a substantial impact on the severity and prognosis of sepsis. Intra-abdominal infections (IAI) are the second leading source of infection for sepsis after pneumonia in ICU, and are often related to high morbidity and mortality rates. Studies had found that the incidence of SALD in IAI patients was considerably higher than that of general population with sepsis. Moreover, the incidence of acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) in IAI patients was also much higher than that in sepsis patients with other site infections, as well as the degree of AGI was more serious according to guidelines proposed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) in 2012. IAI can directly cause AGI, and a subset of patients usually progress to increased intra-abdominal pressure, which further aggravates AGI. The pathogenesis of SALD remains unclear so far, and its mechanism is complicated and elusive. Nevertheless, the unique anatomical structure of the liver make it has close association with the gut, growing evidence indicates that the gut microbiota and related metabolites are related to several liver disease. In case of sepsis, gut microbiota disorder and low microbial diversity can cause severe liver injury. An important mechanism for this phenotype is the gut-liver axis, which refers to gut microbial metabolites and nutrients are transported to the liver through the portal vein and hepatic artery to maintain the healthy metabolism of liver. Therefore, we initially conducted a retrospective study to investigate the relationship between the occurrence of AGI and SALD among IAI patients. Subsequently, a prospective study was performed to analyze and compare the diversity and composition of gut microbiota in IAI patients with or without SALD, respectively, and the dynamic changes in the gut microbiota during the first week after ICU admission were also investigated.

Non-invasive diagnosis and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unmet medical needs. Aim of this study is to investigate the blood levels of three hormonal systems related to obesity, insulin resistance and inflammation in patients with different stages of NAFLD, in order to identify potential diagnostic markers. Study aim: To compare the blood levels of: a) proglucagon-derived hormones (glucagon-like peptide [GLP]-1, GLP-2, glicentin, oxyntomodulin, glucagon, major proglucagon fragment [MPGF]), b) follistatins-activins (follistatin-like (FSTL)3, activin B), c) IGF axis (insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, total and intact IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-3 and IGFBP-4, in 18 individuals with early stage NAFLD vs. 14 controls To explore the levels of GDF-15, total and intact, in NAFLD versus obese controls (OC) at baseline and during oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs)

In recent years, several scoring systems have been developed aimed at predicting early post-LT graft function. However, many of them showed poor efficacy when long-term survivals were tested. Moreover, the necessity to find an easy-to-use score represents another obstacle, with several scores composed by numerous, difficult to find, variables. Recently, the pre-LT Balance of Risk (BAR) and the post-LT Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI) have been created, but their external validation and integration in this setting is lacking. This study aims at constructing an easy-to-use score system based on the combination of a small number of pre- and immediately post-liver transplant (LT) independent variables, in order to accurately predict long-term graft survival after LT.

Our study aims to develop a screening test for biliary atresia (BA) using dry blood spot to improve patient survival by early diagnosis. Newborn screening dry blood spot will be examined for the direct bilirubin (DB), γ-GT or matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) levels. These findings will promote early diagnosis for BA and hence improve the survival.

Liver MSCs or Adult Derived Human Liver Stem/progenitor Cells (ADHLSCs) infusions are currently being developed as a therapeutic medicinal product for the treatment of different liver defects. Nevertheless, a main concern for clinicians and health authorities is the risk of therapy-induced thrombosis, which has been reported in several patients after intravenous infusion. Previous studies showed in fact that most MSCs express a procoagulant activity. ADHLSCs could be used to treat acute de-compensated cirrhotic patients due to their immunomodulatory and anti-fibrotic effects. However in these patients, disturbances of coagulation and haemostasis are common and result in profound haemostatic alterations that can lead to thrombosis as well as to bleeding complications. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of ADHLSCs in cirrhotic blood compared to control blood.

Background: - Fatigue is a common and often disabling symptom in people with chronic liver disease. Its causes are not well understood. Sleep disturbance may play a role in people with cirrhosis, but these factors have not been studied in people with other stages of liver disease. This study will look at the body's circadian rhythms (internal clock) to see if problems with these rhythms can contribute to fatigue. It will look at the causes and mechanisms of fatigue in people with chronic liver disease by comparing people with and without fatigue. Objectives: - To study reasons for fatigue in people with chronic liver disease. Eligibility: <TAB>Individuals at least 18 years of age who have chronic liver disease. <TAB>Participants with or without fatigue may enroll. Design: Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. They will have a 2-day inpatient stay for the study. For the 7 days before the inpatient stay, participants will keep a sleep diary. They will record any caffeine or alcohol consumption, medicines, exercise, and sleep or naps. They will also wear an actigraph to measure their activity levels. During the inpatient stay, participants will answer questions about fatigue and sleep habits. They will have regular blood tests for 24 hours. Their body temperature will also be monitored. During the night, they will have a sleep study to look at how well or poorly they sleep. Treatment will not be provided as part of this study.

Postoperative pain caused by surgery-associated tissue injury is a major concern for all the clinical practitioners. Because it affects multiple systems and induces physiological, immunological and psychological changes. Previous literature showed surgical injury induces a systemic inflammatory metabolic-endocrine response that is proportional to the severity of the surgical stress. In surgeries such as liver transplantation, the patients suffer not only from postoperative pain but also an additional oxidative stress caused by ischemia reperfusion. Previous report have proved that an adequate postoperative pain control improves the recovery and reduces the inflammatory cascade by suppression of physiological and psychological stresses. However, the effect of postoperative pain management on ischemia reperfusion injury is unclear so far. In this three year study, we plan to continue our previous study to test the following two hypothesis: (1) postoperative pain exacerbate remote organ injury caused by ischemia reperfusion, (2) the interaction of different antinociceptive modalities on ischemia reperfusion injury.

The incidence of Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) continues to increase, and prevalence estimates for NAFLD range from 17-33%, making it is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in North America. It is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity as well as progression to cirrhosis is a subset of patients. There is currently no approved treatment for NAFLD. A key barrier to the development of effective therapies is a lack of consensus on the criteria for diagnosis and endpoints for studies evaluating diagnostic markers, prognosis and therapeutic modalities. NAFLD encompasses an entire pathological spectrum of disease, from relatively benign accumulation of lipid (steatosis) to progressive non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) associated with inflammation, fibrosis, and necrosis. It has been estimated that 20-30% of patients with NAFLD will exhibit biochemical and histological changes characteristic of NASH, and 15-20% of those patients will progress to have cirrhosis. NASH remains an important phenotypic state, because this sub-group of patients is deemed at high-risk for developing progressive disease resulting in cirrhosis, liver failure requiring transplantation, or death. Although NAFLD has not to date been included as a component of the metabolic syndrome, there is increasing evidence that NAFLD frequently accompanies the development of insulin resistance and therefore may be an indicator or predictor of future cardiometabolic risk. Moreover, recent findings in skeletal muscle of experimental insulin resistance (lipid infusion) as well as naturally occurring obese and type 2 diabetic, insulin resistant patients show that skeletal muscle inflammation leads to a pattern of extracellular matrix, structural, and remodeling abnormalities that closely resemble the TGFb, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) mediated fibrotic response that differentiates simple steatotic liver from NASH. This suggests there may be a common underlying mechanism. Given the ready availability of skeletal muscle tissue using percutaneous needle muscle biopsies, compared to the more invasive liver biopsy, it may be possible to use characteristics of skeletal muscle to distinguish the severity of liver fibrosis. Given the preponderance of patients being identified with NAFLD, the recognition of less and non invasive tests that help to discriminate the different phenotypic types of NAFLD would be highly practical and useful. This would help identify patients at risk of progression to cirrhosis, and thus make them the target of any available therapeutic interventions. The investigators hypothesize that 1. Insulin resistance measured through glucose tolerance test directly correlates with the extent of liver and muscle fibrosis, and 2. Inflammation and fibrosis in the skeletal muscles correlates with the histopathological changes seen in patients with NAFLD, and potentially skeletal muscle inflammation may be used as a diagnostic predictor to differentiate patients with NASH from patients with simple steatosis. The overall goal of this project is to determine the extent to which inflammation and fibrosis in skeletal muscle mirrors and is predictive of the level of liver inflammation and can distinguish NASH from simple steatosis. Specifically, the investigators propose the following Aims: To use estimates of insulin sensitivity from modeling of oral glucose tolerance tests to test the hypothesis that the extent of liver and muscle fibrosis is directly related to insulin resistance. To use liver and muscle biopsies to characterize the changes in abundance of mRNAs and proteins that characterize inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and fibrosis. The investigators will use quantitative rt-PCR and immunoblot analysis to compare mRNA expression and protein abundance of collagens I and III, fibronectin, and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) to test the hypothesis that there is a direct relationship between the levels of these proteins in muscle and liver and the degree of fibrosis. To establish a biospecimen repository of serum, mRNA from circulating white blood cells, liver and muscle tissue, and DNA to serve as the substrate for future studies of the pathogenesis of NASH.