Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Conditions
Keywords
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, metabolic syndrome, iron overload, phlebotomy
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of phlebotomy (blood taking)as a treatment for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Detailed description
In this study phlebotomy will be evaluated as a therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common and important cause of liver disease. Phlebotomy has been used for many years in the treatment of disorders of iron overload such as hemochromatosis, where it is well tolerated and improves symptoms and survival. There is some evidence that it is also effective in treating NAFLD. However, previous studies have not evaluated whether phlebotomy improves liver biopsy findings. We will measure the severity disease in NAFLD patients prior to phlebotomy therapy and again at the end of treatment. This will allow us to accurately determine the benefit of this therapy in these patients.
Interventions
PROCEDUREPhlebotomy
Phlebotomy involves the removal of blood (approximately 500mL) each week until body iron levels reach the low-normal level
Sponsors
University of Western Ontario, Canada
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Patients 18y or older * Diagnosis of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Exclusion criteria
* Unable or unwilling to provide informed consent * Alcohol consumption of \>10g/day for women and \>20g/day for men
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Severity of liver disease | 6 months after final treatment |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Severity of metabolic disease | 6 months after final treatment |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed