Background & Aims: In patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment improves serum liver tests and surrogate markers of prognosis but has no proven effect on survival. Additional therapies are obviously needed. Fibrates, PPAR agonists with anti-cholestatic properties, have a beneficial effect in primary biliary cholangitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of fibrates in PSC patients.
Methods: Retrospectively, we investigated PSC patients treated with fibrates (fenofibrate 200mg/day or bezafibrate 400mg/day) for at least 6 months in addition to UDCA, after an incomplete biochemical response (alkaline phosphatase [ALP] ≥1.5×upper limit of normal) to UDCA. Changes in biochemical parameters and clinical features were assessed.
Results: Twenty patients were included (fourteen from Paris and six from Barcelona): median age 43.8 years, median liver stiffness 11kPa (≥F3). Upon treatment with fibrates (median duration of 1.56 years), liver tests significantly improved, including a reduction of ALP levels by 41% and pruritus significantly decreased. No serious adverse event attributable to fibrates occurred. Discontinuation of fibrates was followed by a clear rebound of ALP. Despite biochemical improvement, liver stiffness significantly increased.
Conclusions: Combining UDCA with fibrates results in a significant biochemical improvement and pruritus decrease in PSC patients with incomplete response to UDCA. These results provide a rationale for larger and prospectively designed studies to establish the efficacy and safety of fibrates in PSC.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.06.009 | DOI Listing |
Bioengineering (Basel)
December 2024
Departments of Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, S1W17, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan.
To elucidate the unidentified roles of a selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) agonist, pemafibrate (Pema), on the pathogenesis of retinal ischemic diseases (RID)s, the pharmacological effects of Pema on the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which is involved in the pathogenesis of RID, were compared with the pharmacological effects of the non-fibrate PPARα agonist GW7647 (GW). For this purpose, the human RPE cell line ARPE19 that was untreated (NT) or treated with Pema or GW was subjected to Seahorse cellular metabolic analysis and RNA sequencing analysis. Real-time cellular metabolic function analysis revealed that pharmacological effects of the PPARα agonist actions on essential metabolic functions in RPE cells were substantially different between Pema-treated cells and GW-treated cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Mol Pharmacol
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Background: Neuroinflammatory responses are strongly associated with the pathogenesis of progressive neurodegenerative conditions and mood disorders. Modulating microglial activation is a potential strategy for developing protective treatments for central nervous system (CNS)-related diseases. Fibrates, widely used in clinical practice as cholesterol-lowering medications, exhibit numerous biological activities, such as anticancer and antiinflammatory activities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea.
The solubility of commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs has become a significant concern in contemporary medicine. Furthermore, inflammatory arthritis stands out as the most prevalent chronic inflammatory disease globally. The disease's pathology is characterized by heightened inflammation and oxidative stress, culminating in chronic pain and the loss of joint functionality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis primigravid pregnant woman had a new diagnosis of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) that was treated with a combination of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and bezafibrate. Pregnancy may unmask underlying chronic hepatic disorders in susceptible women and, in some cases, the associated abnormalities of liver function or increased serum bile acids (hypercholanaemia) can result in significant fetal and maternal risk. Maternal pruritus, with associated sleep deprivation, may cause considerable distress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Res Notes
December 2024
College of Clinical Medicine, Dali University, Dali, 671000, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
Fibrates can prevent and treat ischemic stroke (IS), the occurrence and development of IS is closely related to hypoxia-inducible factor-1A (HIF-1A). However, the exact mechanism by which fibrates regulate HIF-1A to treat IS remains unclear. So network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to explore the mechanism by which fibrates regulate HIF-1A to treat IS, firstly, the structure of five fibrates were obtained by reviewing the literature and pharmacopoeia, then the potential targets of fibrates, IS, HIF1A and HIF1A-related genes were obtained through various databases, their common targets were obtained through Venny 2.
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