Budesonide in Liver Transplantation
Budesonide in Liver Transplantation
Our hypothesis is that budesonide will provide effective hepatic ISP that will replace prednisone and allow lower systemic drug levels of FK, thus reducing the steroid- and calcineurin-associated complications often observed in the OLT population. This study is intended to investigate the therapeutic potential of this ISP combination.
This study will be a randomized, open-label non-inferiority trial to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of budesonide in combination with low-dose FK and standard-dose MMF as post-OLT ISP in comparison to standard ISP (S-ISP). Subjects will include OLT patients age 18 years and older receiving their first single-organ living- or deceased-donor liver transplant. Subjects must have post-operative recovery of graft function and be able to take oral medications before beginning treatment according to the study protocol.
Subjects will be randomized to receive either (1) investigational oral ISP including budesonide 9mg by mouth in three daily divided doses, FK with an initial target trough level of no greater than 5-6ng/mL, and MMF (I-ISP); or (2) S-ISP including prednisone, calcineurin antagonist, and MMF. After randomization, subjects will be followed for a total of 52 weeks and assessed for adequacy of graft function, and complications of therapy, particularly ACR
Inclusion Criteria: Adult patients age 18 years or older who undergo initial single-organ living- or deceased-donor liver-transplant surgery. Research participants are required to have satisfactory post-operative recovery of graft function and no post-operative renal-replacement therapy prior to starting medication according to protocol. They must also be able to take oral medications.
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Exclusion Criteria: Patients will be excluded from the study if they are: (1) undergoing retransplantation; (2) have fulminant hepatic failure as an indication for liver transplantation; (3) have surgical complication(s) potentially affecting post-operative graft function (i.e., hepatic artery thrombosis); or have delayed initial recovery of graft function (primary non-function) requiring non-standard induction therapy. Furthermore, patients with a contraindication to budesonide (i.e., hypersensitivity) will not be included in the study
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