Milk Thistle Clinical Trial in Pediatric NAFLD

Pilot Study of Milk Thistle for the Treatment of Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

Pediatric Fatty Liver disease is a growing problem in the United States and is expected to be the leading cause of Liver Transplantation in Adults in 20 years. Following lifestyle changes such as diet restrictions and exercise may be difficult to consistently maintain. The purpose of this study is to investigate alternative medical therapy with an herbal supplement called Milk Thistle (MT) which may improve fatty liver disease and would be easier to follow than diet and exercise.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Milk thistle (MT); Behavioral: Lifestyle Modification; Device: Fibroscan; Drug: Placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 20
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Alok Bapatla, MD; Phone Number: (216)844-1765; Email: Alok.Bapatla@UHhospitals.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44106
      • Recruiting
      • University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
      • Contact: Alok Bapatla, MD; Phone Number: (216)844-1765; Email: Alok.Bapatla@UHhospitals.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Subjects between the age of 9 to 22 years old diagnosed with non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) based on current North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Guidelines:

• a. Elevated ALT levels greater than 2 times the sex specific upper limit of normal at baseline; (for boys ALT greater than 50 U/L, and girls ALT greater than 44 U/L) i. AND either overweight (with risk factors as noted below) or obese children:

  • 1. In children, obesity is defined as BMI greater than or equal to 95th percentile in weight and overweight is defined as greater than or equal to the 85th percentile to less than the 95th percentile.

  • 2. Risk factors associated with overweight child that warrant screening and inclusion are:

    a. Central obesity, Family history of NAFLD/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH), pre-diabetic or diabetic, dyslipidemia, sleep apnea)

  • 3. For participants 18 years or older: Obesity is defined as BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2; overweight is defined as BMI greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2 and less than 30 kg/m2.
• b. Evidence of Sonographic presence of hepatic steatosis with greater than 5% steatosis on Ultrasound or FibroScan [with a controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) score of 238 or greater)] prior to start of trial starting.
• c. (Or) previous findings on Liver Biopsy consistent with NAFLD including hepatic macro-vesicular steatosis, ballooning degeneration or Mallory Denk Bodies

Contraception Requirements for Enrollment of adult population:

1. Female participants are eligible if the participant is of reproductive potential and have a negative -serum pregnancy test (beta human chorionic gonadotropin), are not breastfeeding, and do not plan to become pregnant during the study and agree to use two highly effective birth control methods during the study OR if the participant is not of child-bearing potential (i.e., surgically [bilateral oophorectomy, hysterectomy, or tubal ligation] or naturally sterile [> 12 consecutive months without menses]).

   Highly effective birth control methods include condoms with spermicide, diaphragm with spermicide, hormonal and nonhormonal intrauterine device, hormonal contraception (estrogens stable ≥ 3 months), a vasectomized male partner, or sexual abstinence (defined as refraining from heterosexual intercourse), from screening, throughout the study, and for at least 30 days after the last dose of study drug administration. Reliance on abstinence from heterosexual intercourse is acceptable only if it is the patient's habitual practice.

2. Male patients who are sexually active with a partner of child-bearing potential must either be sterile (vasectomy with history of a negative sperm count at least 90 days following the procedure); practice total abstinence from sexual intercourse as the preferred lifestyle (periodic abstinence is not acceptable); use a male condom with any sexual activity; or agree to use a birth control method considered to be appropriate by the Investigator (such as one of the methods identified above for female patients of childbearing potential) from the time of screening until 30 days after the last dose of study drug administration. Male patients must agree not to donate sperm for a period of 30 days after the last dose of study drug administration.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with cardiovascular disorders (such as history of myocardial infarction, stroke, DVT)
2. Medical conditions including history of malignancy, transplantation, immunologic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune thyroiditis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, severe psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis etc.), poorly controlled thyroid disease, uncontrolled hypertension.

3. Patients with cirrhosis and hepatic decompensation will be excluded from the study. Hepatic biomarker parameters will be excluded:

   • ALT greater than 200 U/L
   • AST greater than 200 U/L
   • Total bilirubin greater than 2.0 mg/dL
   • ALP greater than 500 U/L
   • INR greater than 1.4
   • GGT greater than 200 U/L
4. Subjects with history or other evidence of severe illness or any other conditions that would make the subject, in the opinion of the investigator, unsuitable for participation in the trial (such as poorly controlled psychiatric illness).
5. Subjects with unstable diabetes, or HbA1c >9% will be excluded from the study.
6. Subjects who report binge drinking will be excluded from this study.
7. Subjects who partake or state consumption history of tobacco use, vaping, marijuana use, or illicit drug abuse will be excluded from the study.
8. Subjects with severe hepatic dysfunction and synthetic dysfunction with hypoalbuminemia (Albumin < 3.0 g/dL), thrombocytopenia (platelet count <140,000/ml3), or coagulopathy (INR >1.4) will be excluded from the study.

9. Exclude subjects with abnormal renal function characterized as serum creatinine greater than the upper limit of normal range (based on the University of Iowa, Department of Pathology Lab Services Handbook):

   Pediatric Age Group Premature 0.3 - 1.0 mg/dL Neonates 0.2 - 0.9 mg/dL 2-12 months 0.2 - 0.4 mg/dL 1-2 years 0.2 - 0.5 mg/dL 3-4 years 0.3 - 0.7 mg/dL 5-6 years 0.3 - 0.7 mg/dL 7-8 years 0.2 - 0.6 mg/dL 9-10 years 0.3 - 0.7 mg/dL 11-12 years 0.3 - 0.9 mg/dL 13-15 years 0.4 - 0.9 mg/dL

   Males 16 years and older 0.6 - 1.2 mg/dL Females 16 years and older 0.5 - 1.0 mg/dL

10. Breast feeding women will be excluded from this clinical trial.
11. Subjects who are participating in other drug trials will be excluded from participating.
12. Subjects with a reported or known history of allergy or anaphylactic reaction to Ragweed will be excluded from this study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Milk Thistle; Patients will be given Milk Thistle capsules based on weight by mouth once or twice daily for 12 weeks.	Drug: Milk thistle (MT); MT capsules will contain 300 mg of MT with 80% content of Silymarin, standardized to 240mg Silymarin content. Dosing will be based on body weight with maximum dose of 600 mg/day. Dosing will be either 1 or 2 capsules per day based on weight.; Behavioral: Lifestyle Modification; The primary instructions for lifestyle modification are: Physical activity goal- 20-30 minutes per day 5 to 7 days per week. The aim is 150 minutes a week and more than 300 calories burnt for each workout.; Adequate hydration- 4-5 bottles of water a day.; Limitation of sugar-free beverages- once daily and 1-2 (8 oz) cups of skim/1% milk (or dairy alternative) daily.; Avoidance of beverages with added sugar such as soda, Kool-Aid, juice, and Gatorade.; Ideal consumption- three meals daily(breakfast, lunch, dinner)and one snack.; Snack Goal <200 calories. If a 2nd, 3rd, etc. snack is desired it will only be a vegetable.; Five servings of fruits/vegetables per day.; Each food we recommend eating should have dietary fiber >3 grams/serving. Ideally >5 grams/serving.; The given survival guide will have all information regarding serving size and portion allotment.; "MyPlate.gov" handout given which will guide participants in relation to portion control.; Device: Fibroscan; FibroScan will be completed to measure Elastography. Elastography works by emitting small pulse of energy which may be perceived as a vibration which quickly calculated the stiffness of the liver, which correlates to fat deposition and fibrosis.
Experimental: Placebo; Patients will be give 500mg capsule based on weight by mouth once or twice daily for 12 weeks.	Behavioral: Lifestyle Modification; The primary instructions for lifestyle modification are: Physical activity goal- 20-30 minutes per day 5 to 7 days per week. The aim is 150 minutes a week and more than 300 calories burnt for each workout.; Adequate hydration- 4-5 bottles of water a day.; Limitation of sugar-free beverages- once daily and 1-2 (8 oz) cups of skim/1% milk (or dairy alternative) daily.; Avoidance of beverages with added sugar such as soda, Kool-Aid, juice, and Gatorade.; Ideal consumption- three meals daily(breakfast, lunch, dinner)and one snack.; Snack Goal <200 calories. If a 2nd, 3rd, etc. snack is desired it will only be a vegetable.; Five servings of fruits/vegetables per day.; Each food we recommend eating should have dietary fiber >3 grams/serving. Ideally >5 grams/serving.; The given survival guide will have all information regarding serving size and portion allotment.; "MyPlate.gov" handout given which will guide participants in relation to portion control.; Device: Fibroscan; FibroScan will be completed to measure Elastography. Elastography works by emitting small pulse of energy which may be perceived as a vibration which quickly calculated the stiffness of the liver, which correlates to fat deposition and fibrosis.; Drug: Placebo; The placebo is consistent of Psyllium husk fiber, in 500mg per capsule composition.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percent of Hepatic Steatosis as measured by FibroScan.	Percentage of steatosis will be correlated with the CAP score- 200 to 400db/m2	Up to 12 weeks
Hepatic biomarker alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as measured by blood test.		Up to 12 weeks
Hepatic Stiffness (kilopascal, kPa) as measured by FibroScan.	Normal kPa results are usually between 2 and 7 kPa, with the highest possible result of 75 kPa.	Up to 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Number of adverse events as measured by patient report.	Up to 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Thomas Sferra, MD, University Hospitals

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 19, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 20, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 20, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 27, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 23, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Fatty Liver; Silymarin
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Liver Diseases; Fatty Liver; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; milk-thistle extract
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY20231215

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: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No