Validation of Different Methods for HepQuant DuO® Blood Sample Collection

September 14, 2026 updated by: HepQuant, LLC
This is a study to see the agreement of blood samples collected through different means and tube types for the HepQuant DuO Test. The HepQuant DuO Test is a blood-based test that involves a drink of a natural compound, cholate, and blood samples at 20 and 60 minutes. The study team is collecting clinical and laboratory data from patients living with chronic liver disease and healthy adult volunteers. The study has up to 2 study visits at an outpatient clinic and can take up to 4 weeks for a participant to complete study. At these visits, participants will undergo a HepQuant DuO test and other standard lab tests. In addition, the study team will ask about a participant's experience with different blood sampling methods.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
200

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

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants ranging from healthy to living with chronic liver disease will consist of:

50% healthy participants 25% CLD participants with non-cirrhotic fibrosis 25% CLD participants with cirrhosis of which no more than 10% of the total study participants will have Child-Pugh class of B or C.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • adult healthy participant with no major comorbidities and lean body mass (BMI 18-25.5)
  • adult participant with all etiologies of parenchymal chronic liver disease or PBC or PSC with F2-F3 fibrosis or cirrhosis.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • under the age of 18
  • pregnancy
  • Unable to absorb orally administered cholate (examples could include underlying severe gastroparesis or having undergone extensive small bowel resection, conditions or post-operative state that could impair the absorption of the orally administered d4-cholate)
  • NPO (nothing through the mouth) status or those who are unable to ingest a thin liquid by mouth
  • for patients with cirrhosis, any hospital admission within 3 months of enrollment in the study.

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Blood Sampling
Participant completes a HepQUant DuO test during which the participant ingests a d4-tagged cholate solution and has blood samples drawn 20 and 60 minutes after ingesting oral solution. Blood samples are obtained through direct venipuncture of a peripheral vein, one is collected into a red-top tube and one is collected into a serum separator tube (SST), and simultaneously, a third blood sample is collected into Microtainer SST using a transcutaneous capillary blood collection device.
Device: HepQuant DuO Test
HepQuant DuO is commercially available in the U.S. as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT), but it will be used in this study as a nonsignificant risk investigational device to measure change in liver function over time.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Difference in d4-cholate concentrations between RTs by VP (reference method) and the SSTs by VP (primary index method).
Time Frame: From screening to completion of blood collection at Visit 1 is 2 weeks.
To evaluate the agreement of the HepQuant DuO 20- and 60-minute d4-cholate concentrations between samples collected using Serum Separator Tubes (SST) by venipuncture (VP) (the primary index method) and blood collection in Red-top Tubes (RTs) by VP (the reference method).
From screening to completion of blood collection at Visit 1 is 2 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
HepQuant, LLC

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 Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 18, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 18, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 18, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 14, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HQ-US-2501

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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