Active clinical trials for "Acute-On-Chronic Liver Failure"

This is a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, open-label study to evaluate the effects of plasma exchange using human serum albumin 5% (PE-A 5%) in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) subjects. The study will involve approximately 40 study centers in the United States, Canada, and Europe with expertise in the management of subjects with ACLF. Subjects with ACLF at a high risk of hospital mortality will be enrolled. The study will consist of a Screening Period during which subjects will be randomized (1:1) to receive either standard medical treatment (SMT) + PE-A 5% (treatment group) or SMT only (control group), followed by a Treatment Period, and a Follow-up Period. The Treatment Period for subjects in the SMT+ PE-A 5% treatment group will be between 7 and 17 days, depending on ACLF evolution. The Treatment Period for subjects in the SMT control group will be a minimum of 7 days for all subjects and up to 17 days depending on the ACLF evolution. Subjects in this group will receive SMT according to the institution's standards. The Follow-up Period for subjects in both groups will be 90 days.

Early treatment of invasive fungal infections (IFI) may prevent undue mortality in acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) patients. We aim to study the impact of early empiric treatment (based on clinical suspicion) of IFI as compared to pre-emptive treatment (based on biomarkers and culture positivity) on the outcomes in ACLF patients with suspected IFI in a randomized trial. The ACLF patients with clinically suspected IFI would be randomly allocated to empiric treatment or pre-emptive treatment group and followed up clinically to assess the impact on survival, clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness and safety of such an approach. The protocol is designed to cut- down unnecessary usage and to curtail the duration of antifungals use in ICUs based on biomarkers/culture-driven stoppage rules. The results will fuel further studies on formal cost-effective analysis and antimicrobial stewardship protocols in ACLF patients.

Acute on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a severe liver disease with a 28-day mortality rate of up to 40%. When the patients get 3 or more organ failures, the 28-day mortality rate is up to 82.6%. Though the ACLF patients have high short-term mortality, and the only effective treatment method is liver transplantation. However, few patients can be treated due to the scarcity of liver source, rapid disease progression and short transplantation window. Our team evaluated the platelet function of 100 patients with ACLF by using the thromboelastograghy (TEG 5000). It was found for the first time that the reactivity of platelets of ACLF patients decreased, and the platelet inhibition rate (especially the ADP pathway) was related to patients'short-term prognosis. When the ADP inhibition rate was 70%, the patients'28-day mortality was up to 100%. However, the mechanism of low platelet response to ADP in ACLF patients is still unclear. We found that the platelet function in patients with ACLF 2-3 grade and inhibition rate beyond 70% was improved and the 28-day mortality decreased after platelet transfusion. Whether platelet transfusion can prolong survival time needs to be determined in a prospective controlled study. Therefore, this study is expected to find a new therapeutic method to reduce the mortality of patients with ACLF.

Acute liver failure patients posed high mortality rate despite receiving standard therapy. The severity and mortality even higher in patients with underlying liver disease. Acute liver failure cause hyperinflammatory response in early stage and immunoparalysis in later stage. The surge of proinflammatory cytokines leads to multiorgan failure and more liver injury. Subsequent immunoparalysis may lead to lethal secondary infections. Liver support system had been used in acute and acute ontop chronic liver disease for last several decades. Double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) is one of the promising non-biological liver support system that have been extensively investigated in acute ontop chronic liver failure from hepatits B viral. DPMAS circuit consist of BS330 (bilirubin adsorber) and HA330 (Cytokines adsorber). Thus, DPMAS can also remove various cytokines. The effect of DPMAS on immune function in these patients has not been explored. Recent randomized controlled trial by Srisawat et al. demonstrated improvement of mHLA-DR in septic shock patients who received polymyxin B extracorporeal therapy compare to control arm. Since liver failure show change of immunological profile resemble to sepsis. Investigators proposed that removal of toxic liver toxins and lethal cytokines by DPMAS will improve immunological profiles in acute ontop chronic liver failure patients. Investigators plan to conduct a randomized controlled trial in acute ontop chronic liver failure patients who admitted to intensive care unit. Investigators plan to compare the immunomodulatory effects of DPMAS with standard treatments.

A Phase 2, multi-center, randomized, controlled, open-label study to evaluate the effects of the intraperitoneal, liposomal formulation VS-01 in patients with an acute episode of hepatic and/or extrahepatic organ dysfunctions and failures in the presence of liver cirrhosis (Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure, ACLF) and accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites)

Patients with cirrhosis patients have a high incidence of sepsis which can trigger decompensation and may result in prolonged hospital stay and increased mortality. About 30%-50% admissions of patients with cirrhosis have sepsis at presentation and about 15% patients admitted to hospital develop sepsis during the hospital stay . After infection develops, the patient may develop acute kidney injury (AKI), shock, encephalopathy or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) further decreasing the chances of survival. In fact, sepsis in patients with cirrhosis is associated with 15% in-hospital mortality, approximately double that of patients without sepsis. So, sepsis is directly responsible for 30-50% of deaths in cirrhosis . Therefore, it is critical to manage sepsis early and appropriately in cirrhosis to reduce the complications and mortality. Early administration of fluids, source control and empirical antibiotics along with vasopressors if refractory shock are essential components of treatment in all patients with sepsis. Currently, the most accepted strategy for early sepsis management is a combination of early goal directed therapy (EGDT) and physiological parameters, such as urine output, lactate clearance, and administration of antibiotics, within 1 hour of presentation . The use of central venous pressure assessment is fallacious for gauging adequacy of fluid resuscitation in cirrhosis, and the difficulty of performing echocardiographic assessments in the setting of ascites and cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is also well described .

There will be 124 patients diagnosed as hepatitis B associated acute on chronic liver failure with mild to moderate hepatic encephalopathy will be enrolled in this study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and will be randomly divided into two groups as 1:1.First group is called Rifaximin group, on the basis of comprehensive treatment of liver failure, Rifaximin (Alfa Sigma S.p.A) is added, three times a day, 400 mg each time, for a total of 4 weeks, and observed until 12 weeks after withdrawal. The other group is called standard treatment group (control group), which will receive routine comprehensive treatment for liver failure. The reversal of mild to moderate hepatic encephalopathy in the two groups of patients will be observed within 4 weeks, then follow up to 12 weeks.

This is a multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label phase 1/2 clinical study conducted in China to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of hiHep cell-based bio-artificial liver support system (HepaCure) plus DPMAS versus DPMAS alone in Chinese subjects with acute-on-chronic liver failure（ACLF）. Phase 1 is a multicenter, open label study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of single dose and multiple doses of HepaCure with different treatment duration plus DPMAS in ACLF subjects respectively.

A randomized controlled trial to study the efficacy of addition of FMT & plasma exchange to tenofovir compared to monotherapy with tenofovir in patients with HBV reactivation who develops Acute on chronic liver failure. In this study the patients who meet the inclusion criteria will be randomized to either receive Tenofovir or with FMT + plasma exchange along with Tenofovir . Blood samples & stool samples will be taken & analysis will be done accordingly .The patients are followed for 90 days MELD,APACHE & SOFA scores are calculated.Then statistical analysis will be done to find whether the addition of plasma exchange & FMT adds benefit compared to tenofovir treatment alone .

This multi-centric study analyses the effect of intravenous branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) on overt HE in patients with ACLF. The investigators aim to study the efficacy of combining intravenous BCAA with lactulose versus lactulose alone, ammonia measures, endotoxin, metabolomics, and cerebral edema in the medical management of overt HE in patients with ACLF. The study will also access the impact on overall survival and improvement in the grade of HE.