Angiotensin Receptor Blockade as an Anti-Fibrotic Intervention in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C

April 23, 2012 updated by: Kaiser Permanente

Angiotensin Receptor Blockade an Anti-Fibrotic Intervention in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is the most common reason for liver transplantation in the United States and affects nearly 4 million Americans. Treatments for hepatitis C are available but are poorly tolerated and are not always effective. Morbidity and mortality from hepatitis C are related to the development and progression of hepatic fibrosis to cirrhosis and end stage liver disease. Efforts to block progression of liver disease would thus result in prevention of morbidity and mortality as well as costs incurred by the health system in the care of these conditions.

Scar tissue in the liver is secreted by a type of cell, called the stellate cell, in an activated state. This cell carries a receptor for angiotensin, a hormone, when activated. If this receptor is blocked, the cell becomes inactive and does not participate in scar tissue formation. Thus, we hypothesize that using a drug such as candesartan, which blocks angiotensin receptors, should result in less scar tissue formation in the livers of patients with hepatitis C.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • California
      • Roseville, California, United States, 95661
        • Kaiser Permanente
      • Sacramento, California, United States, 95825
        • Kaiser Permanente

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults, age 21 and older
  • Patients with viral hepatitis C that are not on interferon based therapy.
  • Detectable viral load
  • Baseline biopsy within six months or willing to undergo biopsy prior to drug initiation
  • At least grade 2 inflammation on biopsy, fibrosis of stage 1 or higher
  • Willing to undergo biopsy at the end of treatment
  • No interferon for at least 6 months prior to or after initial biopsy for study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Renal impairment defined by a serum creatinine of >1.8
  • Congestive heart failure
  • Hepatocellular cancer
  • Concurrent treatment with pentoxyfylline, steroids, interferon alpha or interferon gamma.
  • Active psychosis (affective disorders without loss of reality testing acceptable)
  • Active IV drug use
  • Prior liver transplant
  • Pregnancy
  • Decompensated cirrhosis as defined by the presence of ascites, hepatic encephalopathy or coagulopathy with an INR>1.4
  • HIV seropositivity
  • Hypotension defined by a baseline systolic blood pressure of less than 90mm of mercury
  • Contraindication to ARB use or allergy to medication
  • Treatment with potassium sparing diuretics

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: QUADRUPLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: A
16mg po daily
Other Names:
  • Atacand
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: B
once daily

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Primary: • Stellate cell activity by alpha SMA stain quantitated by morphometry
Time Frame: 48 weeks
48 weeks
• Hepatic fibrosis by morphometry
Time Frame: 48 weeks
48 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Surrogate markers for fibrosis (liver TGF-beta levels, serum procollagen-III peptide levels)
Time Frame: 48 weeks
48 weeks
Functional status- Albumin, INR, T. Bilirubin, MELD score
Time Frame: 48 weeks
48 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sripriya Subramanian, MD, MPH, Kaiser Permanente

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 1, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 1, 2009

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

July 2, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

April 25, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2012

Last Verified

April 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CN-05SBala-01-B

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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