Active clinical trials for "Hepatic Encephalopathy"

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the experimental drug AST-120 compared to lactulose in patients with mild hepatic encephalopathy.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a potentially reversible functional disorder of the brain with neurological and psychiatric symptoms. HE occurs in up to 70% of patients with cirrhosis at some time during the course of disease. The chief neurotoxin implicated in the development of HE is ammonia. An important aim of treatment of HE is the reduction of the ammonia in the body by lowering the amount of ammonia produced and increasing its detoxification. Enteric production of ammonia can be decreased by non-absorbable disaccharides such as lactulose and antibiotics such as rifaximin. L-ornithine- L-aspartate (LOLA), the salt of the natural amino acids ornithine and aspartate acts through the mechanism of substrate activation to detoxify ammonia. In clinical trials, LOLA has shown a statistically significant effect with respect to reduction in HE grade, reduction of blood ammonia concentration and positive effects on psychomotor function in patients of cirrhosis with minimal HE and overt chronic Grade I HE, as compared to placebo. However, there is lack of data on the efficacy of LOLA in patients with overt acute hepatic encephalopathy which is one of the major causes of hospital admissions and resource utilization in decompensated cirrhotics. Each admission for HE causes a major financial loss to the family and financial burden on the society. Any drug which decreases the hospital stay by rapidly improving HE, will clearly lead to decreased hospital costs to the individual and the society as a whole. Hence, such a trial is a national priority. The investigators hypothesize that LOLA, if added to the standard treatment of overt acute HE (i.e lactulose), may lead to a faster recovery and decrease in hospital stay of these patients. In this prospective, randomized, placebo controlled trial, the investigators aim to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous L-ornithine, L-aspartate in reversal of overt acute hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis.

As an alternative for the treatment of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (MHE) Agave fructans have shown prebiotic effects, and have shown to improve function of the digestive system, control and induce glycemic effect satiety. Therefore the impact of the fermentation of such prebiotic in the gut may contribute to improving health and quality of life of patients with MHE.

Hepatic encephalopathy is responsible for sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness. The purpose of our study is to assess sleep quality, quantity, sleep schemes and physical activity in patients suffering from HE, before and after a 2 weeks treatment with rifaximine, which is currently given to lower blood ammoniac levels.

Patients with continued cognitive impairment after episodes of HE have few options beyond lactulose and rifaximin in the US. Therefore using IV albumin in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which could beneficially impact inflammation, could be an additional approach to improve cognition. This 6 week trial will study changes in cognition, HRQOL and inflammation in patients with covert HE after prior overt HE using multiple IV albumin infusions vs. placebo.

Rifaximin therapy will improve brain functioning on MRI scanning and change the microbiome and metabolome.

The objective was to determine if hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection or mild to severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh Classes A, B, and C) altered the PK of buprenorphine, norbuprenorphine, or naloxone.

The purpose of this study is to examine S.endotoxins , inflammatory mediators and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) before and after treatment in patients of cirrhosis and minimal hepatic encephalopathy.

This is an observational study that will test the clinical significance of speech features in patients with cirrhosis. It aims to assess if speech is associated with cognitive function at baseline, if speech predicts changes in cognition, and if speech predicts future events of hepatic encephalopathy (cirrhosis-related confusion), as well as to assess the dynamics of speech over time, especially with episodes of overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) and treatment interventions.

To see if using ipod games can improve mental functioning