Active clinical trials for "Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease"

In the presented project, the role of heme oxygenase 1 and 2 in the procesess associated with fibroproduction in the chronic HCV infection will be studied. Heme oxygenase expression will be evaluated by the techniques of molecular genetics and immunohistochemistry, both in the liver tissue and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These parameters will be correlated with basic virological and clinical characteristics of the chronic HCV infection. The investigators' expected results may help in understanding the mechanisms of fibroproduction in chronic HVC infection and, therefore, contribute to explain individual differences in the development of chronic HCV infection.

Chronic liver diseases of differing etiologies are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. Chronic liver disease progresses through different pathological stages that vary from mild hepatic inflammation without fibrosis to advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis [2]. Assessment of the stage of liver disease is important for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up both during treatment and after cessation of treatment. A liver biopsy is the oldest and most accurate method used to evaluate liver histology and the progression of chronic liver disease. Furthermore, different histological scoring systems have been developed and modified [3]. A liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for assessing liver histology [4]. During the pathological progression of liver fibrosis, excessive amounts of extracellular matrix build up; furthermore, serum levels of various biomarkers change, in addition to the appearance of new biomarkers in the serum during the different stages of fibrosis [2, 5]. Recently many noninvasive markers (NIMs) for assessing liver fibrosis have been developed, and they are frequently used in clinical practice. They have been validated in different studies, and some were found to be highly accurate in the assessment of liver fibrosis compared with liver biopsies [6-7], which have always been used as the standard reference method for evaluating the accuracy of noninvasive methods. There are limited studies documenting the cost effectiveness of non invasive markers over invasive technique. Most people with chronic Hepatitis B or C are unaware of their infection, putting them at serious risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer which are life threatening. Similarly patients with non alcoholic fatty liver diseases are unaware about fibrosis in liver. About 20-50% of persistent infection ends up into fibrosis and finally cirrhosis. Invasive and non invasive diagnostic methods are widely used to detect the fibrosis. Clinicians use different drugs and combinations to treat HBV and HCV infections. However, there is scarcity of a longitudinal prospective study to assess the cost effectiveness of these diagnostic measures. We planned to conduct a retrospective followed by prospective cohort study among all cases that underwent biopsy in ILBS or GB Pant Hospital since 2000 till Dec 2020 with HBV infection, HCV infection, or non alcoholic fatty liver disease. For retrospective cohort study, we will collect data from hospital information system for all patients with HBV infection, HCV infection, or non alcoholic fatty liver disease, who underwent biopsy during the period of 2000-Dec 2015. The new patients with HBV infection, HCV infection, or non alcoholic fatty liver disease who will undergo biopsy during the period Jan 2016- Dec 2020 will serve as a cohort for prospective design. We will collect socio-demographic data, clinical data, family history, personal history, medical history, anthropometry, biochemical and radiological data from each patient. We will also be conducting a cost effective analysis for various non invasive markers against biopsy as a gold standard in predicting fibrosis, both for retrospective and prospective cohorts. For prospective cohort study, after evaluation of baseline biopsy results, the cases with metavir fibrosis score (F0-3) will be followed for a period of 5 years to document incidence of development and progression of fibrosis. No additional investigation or test will be asked to the patient for the study. We will also develop a predicting model for development and progression of fibrosis.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), one of the most frequent respiratory diseases, could represent a major worsening factor in a non alcoholic steatohepatitis and neoplastic context. Our hypothesis is that OSA promotes the prevalence of HCC related to NASH. This national, multicenter study aims to compare the prevalence of OSA in a group of patient curatively resected for NASH-related HCC with a group of HCV-related HCC.

The purpose of this research study is to find out about the usefulness of mindfulness for weight loss and improvement of physical and mental health in people who have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The goal of this study is to investigate comparisons between the intestinal microbiome in patients with obesity and in patients with obesity and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). With this protocol we hope to better understand how the microbiome of each individual works with disease progression.

The purpose of this study is to document how often specific genotypes known to be associated with adult-onset NASH (Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis) occur in a pediatric cohort and investigate whether these genotypes are associated with increased susceptibility to NASH.

The investigators overall hypothesis is that exacerbation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the liver is associated with significant alterations in phosphatidylcholines that drive the NASH phenotype in obese humans. The investigators plan to examine this hypothesis in a well-characterized cohort of obese subjects that are scheduled for bariatric surgery. Methyl-D9-choline chloride will be infused before and after a 2-week high fructose or glucose feeding to determine the biosynthesis and kinetics of secretory lipoprotein phospholipids. It is proposed that phospholipid metabolism play an important role in the pathogenesis or etiology of fatty liver in non-alcoholic conditions through mechanisms that invoke ER and oxidative stress responses.

The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD ) in the American population is approximately 30% in adults and 10% in children, making it the most common. Cause of chronic liver disease in the United States. Although the majority of patients with NAFLD have a benign clinical course, the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH ), with necro-inflammation and progressive fibrosis, increases the risk for development of cirrhosis and its complications. Among patients with NASH, approximately 28% develop cirrhosis over an 8-year follow-up period. NASH and advanced fibrosis is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among those patients with advanced histologic severity such as NASH and fibrosis the gold standard for diagnosing and staging NAFLD is liver biopsy. Liver biopsy is associated with costs and risks that make it impractical for generalized use in a condition that affects such a high portion of the population. Furthermore, liver biopsy is also limited by significant sampling error in NAFLD. Thus, there is a pressing need for accurate non-invasive predictors of NAFLD that would also allow differentiation of those subjects at higher risk of disease progression. At present, in the clinical setting, some demographic factors, blood tests, and imaging studies can be used to predict a higher risk of disease in patients being evaluated for NAFLD. These predictors, however, are of limited sensitivity and specificity compared with liver biopsy. The development and validation of accurate predictors and scoring systems to identify patients at higher risk for NASH and fibrosis would allow identification of subjects who would benefit the most from liver biopsy and potentially help monitor disease

Few studies have evaluated an extensive list of possible risk factors for NAFLD for their association with presence and severity of histologic features. We wish to conduct a retrospective study on these possible factors (including demographics, comorbid diseases, and medications) for their association, if any, with severity of histopathologic findings. This study hypothesize that certain risk factors, specifically those contributing to or consisting of metabolic syndrome, will have higher NASH Fibrosis stages.

To assess the feasibility in diabetics in a primary care setting of screening for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis, by using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to estimate the hepatic proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to estimate hepatic stiffness.