Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease With Probiotics and Prebiotics

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Status

Completed

Conditions

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Treatments

Other: Simple lifestyle advice

Drug: Lepicol probiotic & prebiotic formula

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00870012

NAFLD-GUT#2

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators' aim is to determine whether probiotic and prebiotic treatment plus lifestyle advice is more effective in reducing hepatic fat content than lifestyle advice alone in patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

Enrollment

20 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 70 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Age 18 to 70 years
Fatty liver identified by imaging studies including ultrasound, computer tomography or magnetic resonance imaging
Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) according to Prati's criteria (>30 IU/l in men and >19 IU/l in women)18
Written informed consent obtained

Exclusion criteria

Positive hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-hepatitis C virus antibody, or anti-nuclear antibody titer above 1/160
Alcohol consumption above 30 g per week in men or 20 g per week in women
ALT above 10 times the upper limit of normal
Liver decompensation, as evidenced by bilirubin above 50 µmol/l, platelet count below 100 × 109/l, prothrombin time above 1.3 times the upper limit of normal, albumin below 35 g/l, presence of ascites or varices
Use of systemic corticosteroids and methotrexate in the last 6 months
Evidence of hepatocellular carcinoma
Terminal illness or cancer, unless in complete remission for more than 5 years