Clinical Research Directory

Detecting Liver Fibrosis in Patients At-risk

The project will establish a research cohort (called STELIR; STEatotisk Liver-risk In Rogaland) based on a biobank with an associated health register. The purpose is to collect, store and analyze biological material and clinical data from people at risk of steatotic liver disease (fatty liver disease). The research cohort will consist of individuals who agree to participate and will be followed over many years with planned examinations/tests at baseline, after 2 years, after 5 years and every 5 years thereafter. The STELIR cohort consists of individuals between 40 and 70 years of age who have one or more of the following risk factors: Obesity, type 2 diabetes or hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption. The biological material and clinical data collected will be stored and used for research on liver-related disease risk, diagnostics and treatment.

Effects of Phytosterol Supplementation on Liver Function and Inflammatory Status in Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide, it recently became a worldwide problem with high morbidity which requires further attention. The use of natural bioactive products such as phytosterols have shown anti-NAFLD effect with little to no side effects when used as a supplement in the therapeutic protocol of NAFLD, in many animals, and In vitro studies. Although the positive impacts of phytosterols on the prevention of hypercholesterolemia and improving liver functions have been reported in previous studies, further clinical experiments, especially human studies are needed to assure the effectiveness of phytosterols on improving liver enzymes, lipid profile, and insulin response in patients with NAFLD. In this study, we focus on the efficacy of phytosterol in a dose similar to the therapicutic lifestyle changes diet (TLC) recommendation with an aim to include it in the therapeutic protocol for NAFLD and to study the effect of some confounders that were excluded in previous studies on this relationship.

A Phase 2 Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of VSA006 in Chinese NASH Patients

Human genetic studies have shown that loss of function (LOF) mutations in HSD17β13 gene have a protective effect on the progression of alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related liver diseases, such as NASH, without significant adverse phenotypes. VSA006 is a siRNA drug targeting HSD17β13 mRNA in the liver and reduce the protein level of HSD17β13. Based on phase 1 study results in healthy volunteers and NASH/suspected NASH patients, this phase 2 study is designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, PK profiles and immunogenicity of VSA006 in Chinese NASH patients.