Clinical Research Directory
Browse clinical research sites, groups, and studies.
RELIEF: Multimodal Prehabilitation to Treat Fatigue in Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis
Sponsor: Hospital Clinic of Barcelona
Summary
The implementation of a non-pharmacological multimodal intervention program-including physical exercise, nutritional counseling, and psychological support-is expected to improve fatigue in patients with primary biliary cholangitis. Consequently, this improvement is anticipated to enhance quality of life and cognitive symptoms, while also positively impacting emotional, social, and occupational aspects. From a pathophysiological perspective, it is hypothesized that chronic cholestasis and/or immune system activation, with the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, leads to both central and peripheral alterations causing fatigue. At the central level, systemic inflammation may induce neuronal senescence in the basal ganglia, resulting in altered functional connectivity networks dependent on these regions and/or structural and connectivity changes in areas involved in interoception, such as the insula and anterior cingulate cortex. At the peripheral level, the hypothesis is that chronic inflammation mediated by anti-mitochondrial antibodies causes mitochondrial metabolic dysfunction in muscle cells, which would be reflected in changes observed in the gene expression analysis of these cells. Improvement in fatigue following the multimodal intervention program is expected to be associated with normalization of the immunological profile, enhanced functional brain connectivity, and improved mitochondrial metabolism in muscle.
Official title: A Randomized Clinical Trial on the Improvement of Fatigue in Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis by Implementation of a Multimodal Rehabilitation Program and Study of Its Pathophysiological Mechanisms
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 80 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
64
Start Date
2025-02-06
Completion Date
2026-12-31
Last Updated
2025-09-08
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Multimodal prehabilitation
The multimodal prehabilitation program will consist of: 1. twice-weekly supervised exercise training at the hospital gym for approximately 8 weeks (induction phase), followed by 16 weeks of telematic, supervised, home-based exercise (maintenance phase); 2. nutritional consultation, including diet optimization and supplementation if needed; 3. individual or group-based psychological support.
standard of care
Participants in the control group will follow the standard of care provided by the hospital and will receive general recommendations on physical activity, nutrition, and stress/anxiety management.
Locations (1)
Hospital Clinic de Barcelona
Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain