Active clinical trials for "Liver Diseases"

A research study of an approved drug called Heptral®, ademetionine, to treat adults with intrahepatic cholestasis (a condition where bile cannot flow from the liver to the duodenum) in pre-cirrhotic and cirrhotic states. Experience from clinical studies in subjects with liver disease has shown that ademetionine is effective.

The primary objective is to test the hypothesis that 24 weeks of treatment with exenatide will improve the histological acitvity of NASH (steatosis,necroinflammation, ballooning), summarized in the recently introduced NASH-score in patients with normal, impaired or diabetic glucose tolerance compared to dietary guidance alone.

This is a single centre, open-label phase I trial to investigate the effects of moderate to severe hepatic impairment on the pharmacokinetics of prucalopride in comparison with healthy volunteers. Furthermore the short-term safety and tolerability of a single dose of prucalopride will be assessed.

The primary aim of the study is the effect of spironolactone and vitamin E versus vitamin E on serum levels of adipokines 52 weeks post-treatment.

Trial Synopsis: Bovine Colostrum for patients with non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Design: This is a single-arm, open-label, before-and after exploratory trial of 30 days of Bovine Colostrum Powder (BCP) to improve NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome. Duration: 8 weeks per subject. Sample Size: 30 subjects. Population: Patients with biopsy proven NASH (NAS of > 4) and an ALT level of ≥ 30 (U/L). Regimen Study treatment will consist of BCP, three 1.2 g oral tablets (equivalent to 600 mg of BCP each) for 4 weeks, from cows immunized to insulin. Patients will be followed for safety monitoring for an additional 4 weeks.

Background: Alcohol is one of principal causes of hepatic fibrosis. Although the most effective treatment for alcoholic hepatic fibrosis is abstinence of alcohol consumption, additive treatment to reduce the accumulation of scar tissue can accelerate the improvement of hepatic fibrosis in alcoholic liver disease. The renin-angiotensin system can be an attractive antifibrotic target in liver. Several lines of evidence indicate that overproduction of angiotensin II(ANG II) in chronic liver injury stimulates the activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs) attributed to fibrogenesis. Additionally, the antifibrotic effect of ANG II blocking agent has been shown in various animal models and hepatitis C patients. Hence, drugs that inhibit the renin-angiotensin system have promise in ameliorating hepatic fibrosis in chronic liver injury. However, no study has been conducted in patients with alcoholic liver disease to evaluate the effect ANG II type I receptor blocking agent on hepatic fibrosis. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the safety and the efficacy of chronic administration of candesartan to hepatic fibrosis patients with alcoholic liver disease. Methods 1) Patients with liver fibrosis(F2) were randomized to receive either the angiotensin receptor blocker(ARB), candesartan(8 mg/day) with ursodeoxycholic acid(UDCA)(600 mg/day)(n = 42), or UDCA alone(n = 43) as control for 6 months. 2)All enrolled patients underwent liver biopsies twice for measurement of fibrosis score, area of fibrosis and alpha-smooth muscle actin(SMA) positive and hydroxyproline. 3) Transforming growth factor-beta1(TGF-beta1), collagen-1, angiotensin II type I receptor(AT1-R), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1), Rac1 and p22phox which represent oxidant stress were also measured by real-time RT-PCR before and after 6 months of therapy.

This clinical study is designed to evaluate the safety of oral administration of the medical food Hoodia to patients with non alcoholic fatty liver disease. Oral administration of Hoodia is common in many western world countries for appetite suppression and as a food supplement or medical food used for dietary purposes. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH is a common, often "silent" liver disease which affects about 2%-5% of Americans. NASH is strongly associated with the metabolic syndrome, diabetes type-2 and obesity and can lead to cirrhosis, HCC, liver transplantation or death.This clinical trial has been designed to assess the safety of short term oral administration of Hoodia to patients with NASH.

This study is designed to determine the effects of a single dose of the study medication in subjects with and without hepatic impairment. 18 to 24 subjects will participate by having multiple blood draws taken to measure the level of study medication in their blood over time.

Background: Patients undergoing liver transplantation with preexisting renal dysfunction are prone to further renal impairment with the early postoperative use of Calcineurin-inhibitors. However, there is only little scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of de novo CNI free regimens in patients with impaired renal function undergoing liver transplantation. The objective of the study is to evaluate a de novo calcineurin-inhibitor-free immunosuppressive regimen based on induction therapy with anti-CD25 monoclonal anti- body, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF/MPA), and mTOR-inhibition to determine its safety and to investigate the preliminary efficacy in patients with impaired renal function at the time of liver transplantation. Methods/Design: Patients older than 18 years with renal impairment at the time of liver transplantation due to hepatorenal syndrome, eGFR < 50 ml/min and/or serum creatinine levels > 1.5 mg/dL will be included. Patients will receive a combination therapy with antiCD25-monoclonal antibodies, MMF, steroids and delayed sirolimus (day 10) and will be evaluated with regards to the incidence of steroid resistant acute rejection within the first 30 days after liver transplantation as the primary endpoint. The study is designed as prospective two-step trial requiring a maximum of 29 patients. In the first step 9 patients will be included. If 8 or more patients show no signs of biopsy proven steroid resistant rejection, additional 20 patients will be included. If in the second step a total of 27 or more patients reach the primary end-point the regimen is regarded to be safe and efficient. The follow up period will be one year after transplantation. The aim is to obtain safety and efficacy data for this new and innovative therapy regimen that might be the basis for a large prospective randomized multicenter trial in the future.

This study is designed to compare how ZD4054 (Zibotentan) is taken up, how it is broken down and removed from the body in subjects with liver cirrhosis and hepatic impairment compared to healthy subjects of a similar age, sex and weight. As for all clinical trials, safety and tolerability of the drug will be evaluated as well to develop dosing recommendations for dosing of ZD4054 (Zibotentan) in subjects with varying stages of hepatic impairment.