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The Franciscus Obesity NASH Study

The Franciscus Obesity NASH Study

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05499949
Acronym
FONS
Enrollment
300
Registered
2022-08-12
Start date
2022-09-01
Completion date
2029-09-01
Last updated
2025-08-27

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

NAFLD, NASH - Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis, Obesity, Morbid

Keywords

Transient elastography, Bariatric surgery

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) changes in terms of steatosis and elasticity in patients with morbid obesity 1, 3 and 5 years after bariatric surgery. In addition, genomics, microbiome and metabolomics analyses will be carried out.

Detailed description

After being informed about the study and potential risks, 300 eligible patients will be included. All participants will undergo lifestyle intervention before bariatric surgery. Extensive cardiometabolic analyses will be carried out. At 5 different moments (twice before and 3 times after bariatric surgery), liver steatosis and elasticity will be evaluate using Fibroscan. For those with an elevated liver fibrosis measurement (TE ≥7.2 kilopascal with M probe or ≥7.95 kilopascal with extra large probe), a laparoscopic liver biopsy will be performed during surgery. Patients will undergo gastric sleeve resection, Roux-n-Y gastric bypass or gastric minibypass.

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTLiver biopsy

For participants from the FONS group with an elevated liver fibrosis measurement (≥F2) with TE, a laparoscopic liver biopsy will be performed during the bariatric procedure.

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTNASH screening

Evaluate liver steatosis and elasticity using transient elastography in the FONS group

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTCardiac dysfunction screening

Evaluate cardiac dysfunction in 60 patients from the FONS group with transthoracic echocardiography

Sponsors

Amsterdam UMC
CollaboratorOTHER
Erasmus Medical Center
CollaboratorOTHER
Leiden University Medical Center
CollaboratorOTHER
Franciscus Gasthuis
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Participants must fulfil all of the inclusion criteria (unless otherwise specified) for enrolment in the study. 1. Participants must fulfil the criteria of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity (IFSO) at screening. 2. Participants must be able to understand the nature of the study and written informed consent must be obtained before any study specific interventions are performed. The cardiac function of a subset group of 30 subjects aged 35 years and older with low transient elastography measurements (≤F1) and no known cardiac disease, hypertension or diabetes mellitus will be compared with a similar number of patients with high transient elastography measurements (≥F3) and no known cardiac disease, hypertension or diabetes mellitus. These patients will be consecutively included. The investigators will perform a liver biopsy during endoscopic bariatric surgery in the patients with an elevated transient elastography measurement (≥F2; suggesting fibrosis and therefore the presence of NASH) in order to correlate the histological diagnosis to the clinical diagnosis based on elastography. In those patients in whom the diagnosis of NASH is confirmed by histology, more detailed follow up in a separate program at the department of gastroenterology is indicated according to the current guidelines.

Exclusion criteria

Patients who meet any of the following criteria at screening (unless otherwise specified) will be excluded from the study: 1. Participants younger than 18 years or older than 65 years 2. Participants with an established diagnosis of liver pathology like, but not limited to: 1. Hepatitis B 2. Hepatitis C 3. Autoimmune hepatitis 4. Wilson's disease 5. Hemochromatosis 6. Primary biliary cholangitis 7. Primary sclerosing cholangitis 8. Alcoholic liver disease 3. Histologically documented liver cirrhosis (fibrosis stage F4), at screening or in a historical biopsy. 4. Participants with active HIV infection and/or treatment. 5. Participants with diagnosed malignancies with or without active treatment. 6. Participants with a history or evidence of any other clinically significant condition or planned or expected procedure that in the opinion of the investigator, may compromise the patient's safety or ability to complete the study. 7. The participant does not understand Dutch.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) 5 years after bariatric surgerybaseline (enrolment) and 5 years after bariatric surgeryTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver steatosis
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) 5 years after bariatric surgerybaseline (enrolment) and 5 years after bariatric surgeryTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver fibrosis

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) 1 year after bariatric surgerybaseline (enrolment) and 1 year after bariatric surgeryTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver steatosis
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) 1 year after bariatric surgerybaseline (enrolment) and 1 year after bariatric surgeryTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver fibrosis
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) 3 years after bariatric surgerybaseline (enrolment) and 3 years after bariatric surgeryTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver steatosis
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) 3 years after bariatric surgerybaseline (enrolment) and 3 years after bariatric surgeryTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver fibrosis
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) according to the type of bariatric surgerybaseline and 1 and 3 years after bariatric surgeryTo evaluate if the type of bariatric surgery (gastric sleeve resection, Roux-en-Y Gastric bypass, Gastric minibypass) influences the steatosis in patients with morbid obesity, measured 1 and 3 years after bariatric surgery, adjusted for baseline steatosis/elasticity.
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) according to the type of bariatric surgerybaseline and 1 and 3 years after bariatric surgeryTo evaluate if the type of bariatric surgery (gastric sleeve resection, Roux-en-Y Gastric bypass, Gastric minibypass) influences the elasticity in patients with morbid obesity, measured 1 and 3 years after bariatric surgery, adjusted for baseline steatosis/elasticity.
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) according to the genetic profilebaseline and 1 year after surgeryTo determine if candidate genetic markers (PNPLA3, TM6SF2, MBOAT7, GCKR and HSD17B13) are associated to changes in NAFLD/NASH severity in patients with morbid obesity one year after bariatric surgery.
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) according to the genetic profilebaseline and 1 year after surgeryTo determine if candidate genetic markers (PNPLA3, TM6SF2, MBOAT7, GCKR and HSD17B13) are associated to changes in NAFLD/NASH severity in patients with morbid obesity one year after bariatric surgery.
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) after lifestyle interventionbaseline (enrolment) and 3 months laterTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver steatosis
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) according to gender and ethnicitiesbaseline and 1, 3 and 5 years after bariatric surgeryTo determine if liver elasticity differs between gender or ethnicities before bariatric surgery and the changes 1, 3 and 5 years after bariatric surgery
Change from baseline in liver steatosis liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) according to the gut microbiotabaseline and 1 year after bariatric surgeryTo investigate the change in the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroides in the distal gut microbiota in patients with morbid obesity with NAFLD/NASH 1 year after bariatric surgery and the effects of these changes on transient elastography measurements.
Change from baseline in liver steatosis liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) according to the gut microbiotabaseline and 1 year after bariatric surgeryTo investigate the change in the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroides in the distal gut microbiota in patients with morbid obesity with NAFLD/NASH 1 year after bariatric surgery and the effects of these changes on transient elastography measurements.
Association between NAFLD/NASH and vascular dysfunctionbaselineTo determine if the presence of NAFLD/NASH before bariatric surgery is associated with (subclinical) vascular dysfunction using the carotid intima media thickness and pulse wave velocity
Association between NAFLD/NASH and cardiac dysfunctionbaseline and 1 year after bariatric surgeryTo determine if the presence of NAFLD/NASH before bariatric surgery is associated with (subclinical) cardiac dysfunction using transthoracic echocardiography
Association between change in NAFLD/NASH and change in cardiac dysfunctionbaseline and 1 year after bariatric surgeryTo determine if change of liver fibrosis stage is associated to change in cardiac function 1 year after bariatric surgery
Correlation between histology and transient elastography measurement in a population with morbid obesityduring surgeryTo establish the correlation between histology (liver biopsy) and transient elastography measurement in a population with morbid obesity
Change from baseline in liver steatosis (in decibel/meter) according to gender and ethnicitiesbaseline and 1, 3 and 5 years after bariatric surgeryTo determine if liver steatosis differs between gender or ethnicities before bariatric surgery and the changes 1, 3 and 5 years after bariatric surgery
Change from baseline in liver fibrosis (in kilopascal) after lifestyle interventionbaseline (enrolment) and 3 months laterTransient elastography is a non invasive test evaluating liver fibrosis

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 9, 2026