Active clinical trials for "Fatty Liver"

Background: Vitamin E is an antioxidant that reduces the damaging effects of oxygen in the body. Most American men (90%) and women (96%) do not get enough vitamin E from their diets; however, the amount of vitamin E needed by the body has been studied only in men, not women. In addition, it is unknown whether another antioxidant, vitamin C, helps vitamin E in protecting the body. Because vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin, how much body fat a person has could affect the amount of vitamin E needed for protection. Objectives: This study has three arms to examine vitamin E requirements: To determine the amount of fat required to get the best vitamin E absorption from a meal. To determine the amount (i.e., best dose) of vitamin E that must be consumed before it can be measured in the blood. To examine how vitamin E and vitamin C work together in the body, in conjunction with diet and vitamin supplements. Eligibility: Arms 1 and 2: Women between the ages of 18 and 40 years who have a normal weight and body mass index (BMI) of 27 or less. Arm 3: Women between the ages of 18 and 40 years who have a normal weight (BMI 27), who are overweight (BMI > 27), or who are overweight (BMI > 27) and have non insulin-dependent diabetes. Design: Arm 1: Five studies, each lasting 1 month with 1 month off between studies (total study = 10 months). Participants will take 500 1,000 mg of vitamin C twice daily for 2 weeks before admission to the clinical center for 1 week. Study 1: Participants will eat breakfast containing a known amount of fat, after which they will take a vitamin E pill as well as receive an IV injection of vitamin E. Other foods contain only negligible amounts of vitamin E. Blood and urine samples will measure levels of vitamin E and other substances. Studies 2 5: Outpatient visits will consist of the same tests as in Study 1; however, the amount of fat in the breakfast will range from 0% to 40% in random order. During one of the studies, an adipose tissue biopsy will be collected to determine how much vitamin E is in the tissues. Arm 2: Five studies, each lasting 1 month with 1 month off between studies (total study = 10 months). Preparation for Arm 2 is the same as in Arm 1. The proportion of fat, muscle, and water in the body will also be measured. Study 1: Participants will eat breakfast containing 30% fat, after which they will take a vitamin E pill as well as receive an IV injection of vitamin E. Conditions and procedures are the same as in Arm 1. Studies 2 5: Outpatient visits will consist of the same tests as in Study 1; however, the amount of vitamin E in the breakfast will range from 2 to 30 mg in random order. Arm 3: Outpatient (2 to 6 weeks) and inpatient studies (4 to 6 weeks). Outpatient study: Participants will take 500 1,000 mg of vitamin C daily and provide blood and urine samples, as well as an adipose tissue sample. Inpatient studies: Two vitamin E inpatient studies. Before these begin, participants vitamin C blood levels will be reduced by means of a diet low in vitamin C. Blood tests will determine how quickly vitamin C leaves the body. Once the vitamin C level is reduced, the first vitamin E study will begin. Study A: The procedure for this study is the same as in Arm 2, Study 1. Study B: The procedure for this study is the same as in Study A, except that the participants blood vitamin C levels will be higher.

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and efficacy of the Oridion Breath ID machine in monitoring liver metabolic functions.

It has been suggested that the actual obesity epidemy is related to chronic overconsumption of added or free sugars. The increasing popularity of artificial sweeteners attest the population willingness to reduce added sugars intake and to use alternatives to alleviate health impact of free sugar overconsumption. However, recent findings suggest that artificial sweeteners may rather contribute to obesity epidemy and its associated adverse health effects, potentially via a negative impact on gut microbiota. It has been shown in various studies that, for the same amount of sucrose, unrefined sugars (such as maple syrup) are associated with favorable metabolic effects. The polyphenols contained in maple syrup, especially lignans, could contribute to these positive effects. Indeed, the strong impact of those biomolecules on the modulation of gut microbiota and on gastro-intestinal and metabolic health has been demonstrated in several studies. It is therefore highly relevant to test the hypothesis that the substitution of refined sugar by an equivalent amount of maple syrup (5% of daily energy intake) result in a lesser metabolic deterioration, by the modulation of maple syrup on gut microbiota, than the one observed with refined sugar.

This is a prospective, descriptive, observational research study designed to observe and document the clinical practice by domain experts, and how the knowledge of new findings that are published in the medical literature affect clinical decision making. The study will evaluate risk factors and co-variants, including genetic variants that are associated with disease progression such as pain, inflammation, organ dysfunction, disability and quality of life.

This is a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study in adults with biopsy confirmed NASH. The study is aimed at evaluating efficacy and tolerability of ASC41 in adults with NASH.

Studies in recent years have demonstrated that the commensal intestinal flora (microbiome) plays a key role in the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). An unfavourable microbiom can trigger disease development and progression. On the other hand, recent data show that modulation of the microbiom by a diet can prevent the developement of a NASH. Mechanisms of interaction between nutrition, microbiome, intestine and liver are largely unknown. In this research project, the effect of a fibre-rich oat bran on NASH will therefore be investigated. A better understanding of the interaction between diet, microbiome, intestine and liver could form the basis for new preventive therapies of NASH.

The non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the most common cause of liver disease in the western world. It can progress from steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and then onto cirrhosis where there is a concomitant risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The prevalence of hepatic steatosis is high, ranging from 16 to 31% in the general population, up to 80% in the obese populationand up to 96% in severely obese patients. Liver biopsy (LB) has traditionally been regarded as the gold standard for the assessment of patients with NAFLD, although it has several limitations. LB has a potential sampling error, is an invasive and often painful procedure. The natural history of patients with NAFLD is generally determined by the extent of liver fibrosis, hence non-invasive assessment of fibrosis with FibroScan® is often sufficient. For patients with proven NASH, changes in hepatic steatosis and serum ALT levels may provide information on the patient's course and/or response to treatment. Several clinical studies have shown the benefit of measuring hepatic stiffness with the FibroScan® machine using the M+ probe. The ability to identify significant fibrosis and cirrhosis has been demonstrated in normal and overweight patients affected with chronic hepatitis B and C, biliary diseases, alcohol related liver disease (ALD) and NAFLD. Recently, Echosens has also developed a novel ultrasonic controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) designed to quantify hepatic steatosis using a process based on vibration controlled transient elastography (VCTE™). Studies comparing CAP with liver biopsies in multi-aetiology cases and patients with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) have shown that there is a good correlation between steatosis assessed histologically and using CAP. The main objective of this prospective study is to evaluate the diagnosis accuracy of the Controlled attenuation Parameter (CAP) measured by FibroScan® (either with M+ or XL+)in patients with NAFLD to assess liver steatosis using biopsy as a reference. The study involves adults' patients with suspected NAFLD scheduled to have a liver biopsy within 2 weeks of fibroscan examination and followed by the Hepatology service of four centers in United Kingdom. Approximately 450 patients (of which 350 will be evaluable) will be enrolled in this study: Around 100 patients will be measured with the M+ probe and around 250 with the XL+ probe. The inclusion period is from 18 to 24 months. Starting date: January 2014. End of recruitment: June 2017. The duration of the study for a patient is from 1 to 7 days, depending to the exams calendar.

People infected with HIV are living longer thanks to the use of antiretroviral therapy (cART). In aging HIV persons, other factors are associated with early death. One of the major factors is liver disease, which can be due to liver infections or reasons such as fatty liver. Fatty liver in the general population is a serious problem, affecting 30% of Canadian population. A specific type of fatty liver characterized by much inflammation, named nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can lead to cirrhosis and death. Persons living with HIV can be at increased risk of NASH because of toxic effect of certain types of cART on the liver, obesity and other metabolic factors (for example diabetes). Some scientific data suggest that newer cART are associated with less fatty liver and liver damage. However, NASH has not been studied in detail in persons living with HIV. One reason for the lack of research is one of the only ways to detect liver disease is to undergo liver biopsy which can be painful and has complications. Recently, a new non-invasive technology (Fibroscan) has been developed which can tell doctors how much a liver is damaged and how much fat it contains without pain or complications. Moreover, a simple test measuring a specific protein in the blood, the cytokeratin 18 (CK-18), can help the diagnosis of NASH. We will study the effect of switching cART to newer types of HIV medication in patients with a non-invasive diagnosis of NASH done by Fibroscan and cytokeratin 18. We expect that switching older cART to less hepatotoxic drugs will lead to improvement of liver damage, fatty liver and NASH diagnosed by Fibroscan and cytokeratin 18. To evaluate this approach we plan to recruit 58 consenting HIV mono infected patients with non-invasive diagnosis of NASH and/or fatty liver with liver damage. Participants will undergo Fibroscan, a blood test for cytokeratin 18, a complete physical examination and laboratory tests every 3 months for 12 months, then at 18 and 24 months. The effect of the switching of HIV medications will be recorded. We anticipate that the current study will provide evidence for reduction of inflammation and liver damage with newer cART for treatment of HIV infection.

Phytosterols are plant sterols . Phytosterols have anti-inflammation effect. Investigators have a hypothesis: phytosterols reduce oxidative stress , enhance Insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1) and endothelial progenitor cells(EPCs). Therefore, phytosterols has novel role in cardiovascular protection.

A variety of liver insults lead to pathological changes in liver architecture that culminate in cirrhosis. While invasive liver biopsy was required to detect cirrhosis, the development of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has revolutionized our ability to detect liver fibrosis through non-invasive means that involve measurement of liver stiffness. However, a number of pathological findings occur in liver in response to various insults that precede cirrhosis and are clinically important to identify such as steatosis associated with NASH, inflammation associated with viral hepatitis, and congestion associated with cardiac hepatopathy. Detection of such entities provides essential diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment information but yet is not available non-invasively. Recent murine studies from this group of investigators has identified that MRE technology can be adapted to non-invasively detect these conditions. Implementing this into the practice will transform it by obviating the need for invasive liver biopsies in patients suspected of having such forms of suspected liver disease. This will differentiate Mayo from other institutions where such technology is not available. An additional aim of this study is to examine the impact of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), both common comorbidities of obesity. Recent evidence indicates a potential link between OSA and severity of NASH and fibrosis, but the mechanisms of OSA- associated hypoxia on liver disease progression in NAFLD is unclear. This study offers the unique opportunity to analyze this association, as the study population will undergo routine evaluation for OSA, as part as the preoperative work-up prior to bariatric surgery.