Clinical trial NCT06483737: Human Albumin Infusion in Liver Cirrhosis and Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy (HACHE)
Official title: Human Albumin Infusion in Liver Cirrhosis and Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy (HACHE): an Invesitgator-initiated, Open-label, Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy
Keywords: hepatic encephalopathy
liver cirrhosis
human albumin
inflammation
oxidative stress
survival
Lead sponsor: General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-07-03
Enrollment: 174
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a severe complication of decompensated cirrhosis, is characterized as neurocognitive dysfunction. Emerging evidence suggests the potential role of human albumin infusion for the treatment of HE, but its optimal dosage remains undefined. Therefore, the investigators planned a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the efficacy of human albumin infusion at different dosages in in patients with liver cirrhosis and overt HE.

Detailed description: Overall, 174 patients with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis, overt HE, and a serum albumin level of 23-30g/L will be enrolled. They will be stratified according to the severity of overt HE and randomly assigned at a ratio of 1:1 into the groups of human albumin infusion at a modified dosage and a routine dosage. The primary endpoint is the improvement of overt HE within 3-5 days after treatment. The secondary endpoints include recurrence of overt HE, survival, and adverse events.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* A definite diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and overt HE
* A serum albumin level of 23-30g/L
* Age ≥18 years old
* Sign the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Contraindications to human albumin infusion
* A history of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
* A diagnosis of acute liver failure
* Severe heart and/or lung diseases
* Psychiatric or nervous diseases
* Pregnant or lactating

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change of overt HE.
timeFrame: 3-5 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Reversal of overt HE.
timeFrame: 3-5 days
measure: Recurrence of overt HE.
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Adverse events
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Survival
timeFrame: 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Shenyang
country: China
facility: Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command (formerly called General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area)
state: Liaoning
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command
name: Xingshun Qi
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Sharma BC, Singh J, Srivastava S, Sangam A, Mantri AK, Trehanpati N, Sarin SK. Randomized controlled trial comparing lactulose plus albumin versus lactulose alone for treatment of hepatic encephalopathy. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Jun;32(6):1234-1239. doi: 10.1111/jgh.13666.
citation: Simon-Talero M, Garcia-Martinez R, Torrens M, Augustin S, Gomez S, Pereira G, Guevara M, Gines P, Soriano G, Roman E, Sanchez-Delgado J, Ferrer R, Nieto JC, Sunye P, Fuentes I, Esteban R, Cordoba J. Effects of intravenous albumin in patients with cirrhosis and episodic hepatic encephalopathy: a randomized double-blind study. J Hepatol. 2013 Dec;59(6):1184-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2013.07.020. Epub 2013 Jul 19.
citation: China L, Freemantle N, Forrest E, Kallis Y, Ryder SD, Wright G, Portal AJ, Becares Salles N, Gilroy DW, O'Brien A; ATTIRE Trial Investigators. A Randomized Trial of Albumin Infusions in Hospitalized Patients with Cirrhosis. N Engl J Med. 2021 Mar 4;384(9):808-817. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2022166.
citation: Bai Z, Bernardi M, Yoshida EM, Li H, Guo X, Mendez-Sanchez N, Li Y, Wang R, Deng J, Qi X. Albumin infusion may decrease the incidence and severity of overt hepatic encephalopathy in liver cirrhosis. Aging (Albany NY). 2019 Oct 8;11(19):8502-8525. doi: 10.18632/aging.102335. Epub 2019 Oct 8.
citation: Bai Z, Mendez-Sanchez N, Romeiro FG, Mancuso A, Philips CA, Tacke F, Basaranoglu M, Primignani M, Ibrahim M, Wong YJ, Nery FG, Teschke R, Ferreira CN, Munoz AE, Pinyopornpanish K, Thevenot T, Singh SP, Mohanty A, Satapathy SK, Ridola L, Maruyama H, Cholongitas E, Levi Sandri GB, Yang L, Shalimar, Yang Y, Villa E, Krag A, Wong F, Jalan R, O'Brien A, Bernardi M, Qi X; Liver Cirrhosis-related Complications (LCC)-International Special Interest Group. Use of albumin infusion for cirrhosis-related complications: An international position statement. JHEP Rep. 2023 May 5;5(8):100785. doi: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100785. eCollection 2023 Aug.