Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Silymarin Treatment in Patients With Acute Viral Hepatitis

Acute Hepatitis C Clinical Trial

Official title: A Multicentre, Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Phase II/III Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of 280 mg and 420 mg Silymarin TID (Legalon® Capsules) Administered for Four Weeks in Subjects With Acute Viral Hepatitis With a Four Week Follow-up Period

Status Terminated

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess whether two higher doses (280mg or 420mg three times daily)of silymarin therapy are safe and tolerable, and shorten the illness in patients with acute viral hepatitis compared to placebo.

Clinical Trial Description

Currently, acute viral hepatitis (AVH) management is based on diet and rest and silymarin remains among the most popular herbs being used for treating viral hepatitis both in the U.S. and abroad. Although numerous randomized clinical trials have been conducted to assess the efficacy of silymarin on chronic hepatitis C, very few studies were done to assess the efficacy of silymarin in acute viral hepatitis. Among those, efficacy of silymarin has not been established. This could be attributed to the small number of studies conducted, small sample sizes, high drop out rates, and low doses of silymarin used. Therefore, it is justified to evaluate silymarin safety and efficacy using higher doses than previously studied in AVH.

Primary safety objective:

• To assess safety and tolerability of two silymarin doses in patients with AVH as determined by the number and percentage of subjects who develop Adverse Events in each group elicited by a questionnaire administered at specific visits and by hematology, blood chemistry and physical examinations.

Primary efficacy objective:

• To assess the percentage of subjects who normalize their total and direct bilirubin in each group.

Secondary Objective:

To assess the percentage of subjects in each group who:

• Normalize their liver enzymes, i.e. alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and inflammatory reactants, i.e. erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

• Resolve their clinical symptoms of AVH and return to baseline activity levels and quality of life (QOL) assessed by physical examinations and using a previously evaluated Arabic-translated SF-36 form adapted for use with patients with liver diseases.

To assess:

• Differences in silymarin response in different AVH etiologies (i.e. HAV, HBV, HCV, HEV) using subgroup analyses.

To compare:

• Progression of acute to chronic HCV infection in subjects with HCV-caused acute AVH. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Acute CMV Hepatitis
• Acute EBV Hepatitis
• Acute Hepatitis A
• Acute Hepatitis B
• Acute Hepatitis C
• Acute Hepatitis E
• Hepatitis
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatitis E

• NCT number: NCT00755950
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3
• Start date: October 2008
• Completion date: December 2015