BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent studies have shown that blocking of angiotensin-II signaling can attenuate liver fibrosis in various experimental models. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical effect of an angiotensin-II type-1 receptor blocker, candesartan, on the progression of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C patients. METHODOLOGY: Twelve chronic hepatitis C patients with hypertension enrolled as candesartan-treated patients and followed up prospectively, were compared with age- and sex-matched 20 chronic hepatitis C patients with no candesartan treatment. We evaluated alterations in hepatic fibrosis grades with these noninvasive fibrotic indexes: Forns index, the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI) and FibroIndex, every 3 months. RESULTS: There were initially no significant differences between the candesartan-treated and control groups in clinical characteristics. Candesartan treatment induced a significant improvement in Forns Index, APRI and FibroIndex during treatment in comparison with the control group. There were no severe side effects in the candesartan group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that candesartan in regular doses has an anti-fibrotic effect on patients with chronic hepatitis C.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent studies have shown that blocking of angiotensin-II signaling can attenuate liver fibrosis in various experimental models. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical effect of an angiotensin-II type-1 receptor blocker, candesartan, on the progression of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis Cpatients. METHODOLOGY: Twelve chronic hepatitis Cpatients with hypertension enrolled as candesartan-treated patients and followed up prospectively, were compared with age- and sex-matched 20 chronic hepatitis Cpatients with no candesartan treatment. We evaluated alterations in hepatic fibrosis grades with these noninvasive fibrotic indexes: Forns index, the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI) and FibroIndex, every 3 months. RESULTS: There were initially no significant differences between the candesartan-treated and control groups in clinical characteristics. Candesartan treatment induced a significant improvement in Forns Index, APRI and FibroIndex during treatment in comparison with the control group. There were no severe side effects in the candesartan group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that candesartan in regular doses has an anti-fibrotic effect on patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Authors: Sadashiva S Karnik; Hamiyet Unal; Jacqueline R Kemp; Kalyan C Tirupula; Satoru Eguchi; Patrick M L Vanderheyden; Walter G Thomas Journal: Pharmacol Rev Date: 2015-10 Impact factor: 25.468
Authors: Iwona E Weidlich; Igor V Filippov; Jodian Brown; Neerja Kaushik-Basu; Ramalingam Krishnan; Marc C Nicklaus; Ian F Thorpe Journal: Bioorg Med Chem Date: 2013-03-29 Impact factor: 3.641