Efficacy of Antibiotic Therapy in Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis Treated With Prednisolone

Summary

Treatment of reference of severe alcoholic hepatitis is based on corticosteroids, given for 28 days. However, about 25-35% of patients do not take benefit from this treatment and die within the 6 months following the diagnosis. Numerous trials have evaluated the impact of several strategies in association with corticosteroids. None of them has shown an improvement in survival (primary endpoint) as compared to corticosteroids alone. The project is based on an approach never tested in a randomized controlled trial in severe alcoholic hepatitis, targeting the group of patients at high risk of death (25-35% at 2 months). This approach is based on animal and human studies.Antibiotics are effective in animal models and in other circumstances characterized by liver failure such as gastrointestinal bleeding related to portal hypertension. The interest of studying this population is emphasized by the frequency of infections in these critically ill patients. Antibiotics will be administered before the development of any infection, as it is likely that these patients present with mesenteric bacterial adenitis without systemic signs of infection. Primary endpoint will be 2-month survival as most deaths occur within 60 days and treatment is given for 30 days.

Timeline

Start

2015-06-13

Primary completion

2019-11-19

Completion

2019-11-19

Publications

• Background Mathurin P, O'Grady J, Carithers RL, Phillips M, Louvet A, Mendenhall CL, Ramond MJ, Naveau S, Maddrey WC, Morgan TR. Corticosteroids improve short-term survival in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis: meta-analysis of individual patient data. Gut. 2011 Feb;60(2):255-60. doi: 10.1136/gut.2010.224097. Epub 2010 Oct 12.
• Background Nguyen-Khac E, Thevenot T, Piquet MA, Benferhat S, Goria O, Chatelain D, Tramier B, Dewaele F, Ghrib S, Rudler M, Carbonell N, Tossou H, Bental A, Bernard-Chabert B, Dupas JL; AAH-NAC Study Group. Glucocorticoids plus N-acetylcysteine in severe alcoholic hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 2011 Nov 10;365(19):1781-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1101214.
• Background Lucey MR, Mathurin P, Morgan TR. Alcoholic hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 2009 Jun 25;360(26):2758-69. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra0805786. No abstract available.
• Background Louvet A, Wartel F, Castel H, Dharancy S, Hollebecque A, Canva-Delcambre V, Deltenre P, Mathurin P. Infection in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis treated with steroids: early response to therapy is the key factor. Gastroenterology. 2009 Aug;137(2):541-8. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.04.062. Epub 2009 May 13.
• Background Louvet A, Naveau S, Abdelnour M, Ramond MJ, Diaz E, Fartoux L, Dharancy S, Texier F, Hollebecque A, Serfaty L, Boleslawski E, Deltenre P, Canva V, Pruvot FR, Mathurin P. The Lille model: a new tool for therapeutic strategy in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis treated with steroids. Hepatology. 2007 Jun;45(6):1348-54. doi: 10.1002/hep.21607.
• Background Mathurin P, Louvet A, Duhamel A, Nahon P, Carbonell N, Boursier J, Anty R, Diaz E, Thabut D, Moirand R, Lebrec D, Moreno C, Talbodec N, Paupard T, Naveau S, Silvain C, Pageaux GP, Sobesky R, Canva-Delcambre V, Dharancy S, Salleron J, Dao T. Prednisolone with vs without pentoxifylline and survival of patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2013 Sep 11;310(10):1033-41. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.276300.
• Results Louvet A, Labreuche J, Dao T, Thevenot T, Oberti F, Bureau C, Paupard T, Nguyen-Khac E, Minello A, Bernard-Chabert B, Anty R, Wartel F, Carbonell N, Pageaux GP, Hilleret MN, Moirand R, Nahon P, Potey C, Duhamel A, Mathurin P. Effect of Prophylactic Antibiotics on Mortality in Severe Alcohol-Related Hepatitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023 May 9;329(18):1558-1566. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.4902.

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