Protective Mechanisms of Phycocyanin in Partial Hepatectomy-Associated Liver Injury

August 9, 2026 updated by: Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine

The goal of this study is to find out whether phycocyanin, a natural protein from spirulina, can help protect the liver and support recovery in adults having part of their liver removed. The study will also look at whether phycocyanin is safe to take.The main questions are:

Does phycocyanin reduce liver injury after surgery? Does it help the liver grow back and recover? What side effects or medical problems happen while taking it?

Researchers will compare phycocyanin with a placebo, which looks similar but does not contain phycocyanin. About 30 people will take part. Each person will be randomly placed into one of the two groups, and neither the participants nor the researchers will know which treatment each person receives during the study.

Participants will:

Take 1.5 grams of phycocyanin or placebo every day for 3 weeks before surgery and 3 weeks after surgery Receive the usual care for liver surgery Give blood and stool samples before and after treatment Allow researchers to study a small piece of liver tissue removed during surgery Return for follow-up for up to 90 days after surgery

The samples will be used to check liver function, inflammation, gut bacteria, and changes linked to liver healing. Possible side effects include an allergic reaction or stomach discomfort. The study has been approved by an ethics committee.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • China
    • Zhejiang
      • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
        • Recruiting
        • The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University
        • Contact:

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
  • Child-Pugh class A liver function
  • Planned neoadjuvant treatment with gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin, lenvatinib, and a PD-1 inhibitor
  • Planned anatomical hemihepatectomy with an expected future liver remnant greater than 40%
  • Age 18 to 75 years
  • Willing and able to participate and provide written informed consent
  • No acute illness or significant worsening of symptoms within 4 weeks before enrollment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Serious coexisting medical conditions
  • Known allergy to phycocyanin
  • Other malignant tumors
  • Previous liver resection
  • History of severe psychiatric illness that may affect treatment adherence

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 Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Phycocyanin Group
Participants will take 1.5 grams of phycocyanin by mouth once a day for 3 weeks before surgery and 3 weeks after surgery. They will also receive the usual medical care for partial liver removal surgery.
Dietary supplement: Phycocyanin
Participants will take 1.5 grams of phycocyanin by mouth once daily for 3 weeks before partial hepatectomy and for 3 weeks after surgery. Phycocyanin is a natural protein from spirulina.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo Group
Participants will take 1.5 grams of maltodextrin placebo by mouth once a day for 3 weeks before surgery and 3 weeks after surgery. The placebo does not contain phycocyanin. Participants will also receive the usual medical care for partial liver removal surgery.
Dietary supplement: Maltodextrin
Participants will take 1.5 grams of maltodextrin placebo by mouth once daily for 3 weeks before partial hepatectomy and for 3 weeks after surgery. The placebo does not contain phycocyanin.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in Serum Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) Level
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Change in Serum Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) Level
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Change in Serum Total Bilirubin (TBIL) Level
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Baseline and Week 3 after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in Blood Inflammatory Marker Levels
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Liver Cell Proliferation Assessed by Ki-67 Expression
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Liver Cell Proliferation Assessed by PCNA Expression
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3 after surgery
Baseline and Week 3 after surgery

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
through study completion, an average of 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine

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 (Actual)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 30, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 30, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 22, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 9, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2026-0597

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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