Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important etiology for chronic hepatitis globally, and especially so in China. HBV infection can lead to the development of cirrhosis through the pathological process of liver fibrosis. The effective suppression of HBV replication with NAs or interferon-alpha can histologically regress the fibrotic pathological process, but there remain patients who have achieved anti-viral responses and normalization of serum liver tests, but not liver fibrosis regression. This subset of patients typically presents with advanced liver fibrosis at baseline. Therefore, it is reasonable to administer the anti-fibrotic agents, coupled with antivirals for patients with advanced liver fibrosis due to HBV, in order to improve the fibrotic regression of the patients. Fuzheng Huayu (FZHY) tablet is a botanical product with evidence demonstrating its efficacy against mild to moderate liver fibrosis. The current clinical trial evaluates the efficacy and safety of the combination therapy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) (FZHY and herbal granule) and entecavir for HBV compensated cirrhosis. We will enroll HBV patients who presented with a good viral response after 2 years of entecavir treatment but had advanced liver fibrosis (≥Ishak F5). METHODS: This is a single-arm clinical trial, conducted in 20 centers in mainland China over a period of 60 weeks, including 48 weeks of treatment observation and 12 weeks of follow-up. The main inclusion criteria include HBsAg positive more than 6 months, 2 years administration of entecavir, HBV DNA less than 20 IU/ml, liver fibrotic stage ≥ F5, and Child-Pugh scoring <7 (Stage A). The sample size is estimated to be about 190, considering a 20% drop-out and 60% of patient's compliance for the second liver biopsy so a total of 350 participants will be enrolled. All eligible participants are divided into 3 subgroups according to the TCM clinic pattern. And all patients will take 1 Entecavir tablet (0.5 mg) per day, 4 FZHY tablets (1.6 g) three times a day, and specific TCM granule three times a day, which is decided by TCM clinical patterns (CPs) differentiation. The patients were treated for 48 weeks, and follow-up visits at 12, 24, 36, 48 weeks and 60 weeks. The patients will receive the second liver biopsy at the end of 48 weeks, with a 12 weeks follow-up after that.The primary endpoint is the proportion of subjects with a 1-point improvement of liver fibrosis stage using the Ishak score from baseline to week 48 in the study, according to consensus readings evaluated by a panel of hepato-pathologists. The secondary endpoints are the brightness-mode ultrasonic, fibrotic biomarkers. The adverse events (AEs) will be recorded for 60 weeks, and the safety of the combination therapy will be evaluated. Meanwhile, the efficacy in the 3 sub-groups will be stratified and analyzed. DISCUSSION: The study has been designed to test the therapeutic effects and safety of the combination therapy of FZHY and herbal granule with entecavir on persistent advanced stage fibrosis/cirrhosis following 2 years entecavir treatment, and to explore an effective integrative therapy on HBV cirrhosis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT02241616. Registered on September 16, 2014.