Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Hong Kong

December 15, 2008 updated by: Hospital Authority, Hong Kong

Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Hong Kong: Natural History and Development of Liver Complications

The true incidence and prevalence of NAFLD in Hong Kong has not been determined. The natural history of NAFLD is not well defined partly because of differences in the exclusion limit of alcohol and the required histological criteria between studies. NAFLD is previously believed to be a benign non-progressive condition, but it has since been determined that a subset of patients can progress to cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma.

In fact in a recent histological review of NAFLD, fibrosis or liver cirrhosis was present in 15-50% of patients at index liver biopsy. The presence of obesity or type 2 diabetes mellitus are the strongest predictors of fibrosis. These same risk factors are also more common in patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis. Further evidence of the link between diabetes, obesity and NAFLD are mainly from the field of liver transplantation. In patients who underwent liver transplantation for cryptogenic liver cirrhosis, NAFLD recuured in a quarter of the hepatic allografts. The patients with recurrent NAFLD were more likely to be diabetic and had a higher body mass index (BMI) at the time of recurrent NAFLD. This suggests that NAFLD may have a significant role in the pathogenesis of crytogenic cirrhosis.

Although NAFLD was initially described as a slowly progressive disease, there are emerging data which shows that it can progress rapidly. Liver failure has even been described in patients with NAFLD after bariatric surgery, and a recent report described 5 cases of subacute liver failure in obese middle aged females with NAFLD related cirrhosis. NAFLD can also affect the progression of other diseases as well. Hepatic steatosis related to visceral obesity is a major independent risk factor for fibrogenesis related to chronic HCV hepatitis.

However, the prevalence of NAFLD and its interaction with chronic HBV, if any, is uncertain. This study aims to determine the prevalence of NAFLD in patients with unknown cause of hepatitis and to determine the histological fibrosis and inflammation in chronic HBV patients with NAFLD.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

600

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

  • China
      • Hong Kong, China
        • Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital
      • Hong Kong, China
        • Department of Pathology, Princess Margaret Hospital
      • Hong Kong, China
        • Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
      • Hong Kong, China
        • Department of Pathology, Queen Mary Hospital
      • Hong Kong, China
        • Department of Pathology, Tuen Mun Hospital

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

18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-80 years old
  • Gender: male and female

Exclusion Criteria:

  • HBV patients and fatty liver HCV HIV

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?

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Hospital Authority, Hong Kong

Collaborators

The University of Hong Kong

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: George K Lau, Dr, Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital/ The University of Hong Kong

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

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

June 1, 2004

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 6, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 18, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

December 19, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 17, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 15, 2008

Last Verified

June 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UW 05-120 T/783
  • HARECCTR0500006
  • KW/EX/05-036

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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