View clinical trials related to Liver Fibrosis.
Filter by:Liver fibrosis caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is easy to progress to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, with great harm and poor therapeutic effect. Nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) are the most commonly anti-HBV drugs currently . Long-term use of NAs can inhibit HBV DNA and achieve the purpose of reducing poor prognosis. However, adverse prognosis, such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, cannot be completely eliminated even under the status of virologic inhibition under THE action of NAs. Current studies have shown that the lower the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) is, the better the long-term prognosis is. As another anti-HBV drug, pegylated-interferon-α (peg-IFN-α) has the immune regulation effect that NAs do not have, which can bring irreplaceable effects in HBsAg reduction and liver fibrosis reversal. Therefore, the combined therapy of NAs and peg-IFN-α is a hot issue in the field of liver diseases over the world, but the research and application of the combined therapy in patients with liver fibrosis are very few. The preliminary results of our previous research showed that the combined therapy of peg-IFN-α and NAs in patients with HBV related fibrosis were safe, and had a significant effect on HBsAg decline. On this basis, this study intends to carry out a multicentre, non-randomized concurrent controlled trial, comparing the safety and efficacy between combined therapy (peg-IFN-α plus tenofovir) and tenofovir monotherapy in patients with liver fibrosis, especially focusing on HBsAg's decline and clearance, and the improvement of liver fibrosis degree, in order to find a better therapy, and to guide the clinical decision making.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) provides a valuable tool for the diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis. Activation of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) is a key link in the pathophysiological development of liver fibrosis. In human liver tissue, fibroblast activation protein (FAP) was only expressed in active HSCs and fibroblasts, but not in static HSCs. Therefore, FAP has become an excellent target for diagnosis and treatment of liver fibrosis. Recently, radionuclide-labeled fibroblast activation protein inhibitors (FAPI) as a new novel positron tracer has shown to be effective to detect various cancers. In this prospective study, the investigators will use the most advanced imaging equipments, integrated PET/MR, and PET/CT with gallium-68 (68Ga) -FAPI to image patients with or suspected of liver fibrosis, the aim is to explore the value of 68Ga-FAPI hybrid PET/MR and PET/CT in liver fibrosis.
To evaluate the potential value of 68Ga-FAPI-04 positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for the diagnosis and prognosis in liver fibrosis disease.
Chronic liver disease is a major health problem worldwide. Liver fibrosis is a key feature in most chronic liver diseases. When identified early, liver fibrosis may be reversible. Currently, liver biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Liver biopsy; however, is invasive. Non-invasive diagnostic tools are increasingly used in clinical practice. However, the existing noninvasive methods still have significant limitations to detect early-stage liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis is characterized by excessive deposition of collagen-rich connective tissues in the liver. The macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) is an MRI parameter which characterizes the magnetization transfer (MT) effect in tissues. Quantitative MPF imaging is non-invasive and can be used to measure collagen deposition in the liver due to the strong MT effect of collagen. It has been reported MPF quantification can be used for diagnosis of early-stage liver fibrosis. However, the existing approaches require B1, B0, and T1 map in addition to the imaging data for MPF quantification, which makes it challenging to adopt them for routine clinical use. The investigators propose a fast and robust MPF quantification approach. In contrast to the existing methods which rely on saturation radiofrequency pulses for MPF quantification, our approach is based on spin-lock radiofrequency pulses which have minimum Rabi oscillations. The whole imaging data can be acquired within a breath-hold less than 8 seconds. Our approach only needs a B1 map in addition to the imaging data for MPF quantification. The preliminary clinical studies on 3.0T MRI show the measurement using our approach is specific to collagen content and can be used to detect early-stage liver fibrosis. To further confirm the clinical value of the proposed approach, the investigators will investigate the relationship of the collagen content measured using the proposed non-invasive imaging approach and those measured based on morphometry analysis of histology, and determine the diagnostic value of the proposed method for detection of early stage liver fibrosis in a large cohort. The investigators will also perform comparative studies of the proposed method and the state-of-the-art quantitative MPF imaging technique. This project will provide a diagnostic technology for early detection of liver fibrosis. The proposed MRI technology also has potential to be used for other clinical purposes.
This pilot study will evaluate conventional and investigational MR imaging and spectroscopic sequences and collect data to help plan more definitive future studies.
Methotrexate is one of the commonly used conventional systemic treatment for moderate to severe psoriasis as well as psoriatic arthritis. It is also used as co-therapy with TNF-antagonists to improve efficacy and reduce neutralizing drug antibodies formation. Apart from the bone marrow suppression, which can largely be avoided with careful dosing, monitoring and avoidance of certain drug interaction, hepatotoxicity is one of the major side-effects. The prevalence of significant liver fibrosis in patients taking methotrexate is estimated to be 5% and cirrhosis 1-2%. The British Association of Dermatologist's guideline (2016) discussed a few non-invasive tests such as the amino-terminal peptide of procollagen III (PIIINP), Fibrotest and transient elastography. While PIIINP was recommended to be used in baseline and serial assessment, liver stiffness measurement by transient elastography is not yet widely used owing to lack of high-quality data. Transient elastography (TE) has been shown to correlate well with liver fibrosis and has been widely adopted as a non-invasive method to assess liver fibrosis in various chronic liver disease. Two-dimensional shear wave elastrography (2D SWE) is a novel ultrasound technique that combines shear wave elastography with traditional ultrasound imaging. Liver stiffness measurement can be performed under the guidance of high rate B-mode image, allowing real-time visualization of liver parenchyma and avoidance of non-target structures such as vessels or focal liver lesions. In view of the demand of a safer and reliable non-invasive test to detect advanced liver fibrosis in psoriasis patients receiving methotrexate, we propose to recruit at-risk patients for a paired TE and 2D SWE assessment and liver biopsy.
Evaluation of the tissue stiffness as a surrogate marker of degree of liver cirrhosis has gained popularity in recent decades. Current guidelines also advocate the use of Fibroscan® machine (EchoSens, Paris, France) to detect any advanced liver fibrosis as represented by high liver stiffness, for prediction of varices development. Apart from liver stiffness, studies have shown that spleen stiffness (SS) has been proven another useful parameter to severity of underlying portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis. However, spleen stiffness measurement by Fibroscan® is highly limited by the thickness of subcutaneous soft tissue or abdominal wall tissue, especially in obese subjects. It carries certain technical difficulty as well due to its deep-seated anatomical position. Recently, the technique of endoscopic ultrasound elastography (EUS-E) has been described. It can overcome the limitations of Fibroscan by making measurements of liver and spleen stiffness through the gastric wall, which has a shorter distance than the abdominal wall. It also allows concomitant upper GI tract luminal examination, incorporating both esophagogastroduodenoscopy and elastography measurements into one procedure at the same time. This research study aims to prospectively study the utility of EUS-E in patients with chronic liver diseases, both in terms of diagnostic and prognostic indications for future cirrhotic-related complications.
Liver fibrosis is the most important prognostic factor in patients with non-alcoholic factor disease. Clinical and biological condition, as diabetes or mutation for PNPLA3, are well known factors associated with liver fibrosis onset and progression. However, little is known about biochemical factors predicting liver fibrosis evolution in large NAFLD populations.
Compared to TDF, peginterferon alfa 2a may has more therapeutic efficacy in hepatitis B surface antigen or e antigen seroconversion and anti-tumor occurrence in chronic hepatitis b patients. We design this study to compare the effectiveness and safety between the combination therapy of TDF and peg-IFN with TDF alone in NAs experienced patients with HBV related liver fibrosis. Especially the improvement of liver fibrosis and the occurrence of long-term end-stage liver disease such as cirrhosis, liver cancer, etc.
Compared to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues, peginterferon alfa 2a/2b may has more therapeutic efficacy in hepatitis B surface antigen or e antigen seroconversion and anti-tumor occurrence in chronic hepatitis b patients. We design this study to investigate treatment of peginterferon alfa 2a/2b in anti-virus treatment experienced patients with HBV related liver fibrosis.