Safety and Efficacy of Finerenone in Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease(MASLD/NAFLD) Related Cirrhosis Patients With Ascites in Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease.

Safety and Efficacy of Finerenone in Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease(MASLD/NAFLD) Related Cirrhosis Patients With Ascites in Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease. A Randomized Control Trial.

Renal dysfunction is a frequent and clinically important complication in cirrhosis, and MASLD/NAFLD is associated with increased risk of incident CKD; however, finerenone has not been specifically studied in MASLD-cirrhosis populations despite proven cardiorenal benefits in diabetic CKD. This monocentric, open-label, randomized controlled trial at the Department of Hepatology, ILBS, New Delhi will enroll 160 adults (18-80 years) with MASLD/NAFLD cirrhosis, clinical grade I-II ascites, and stable eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m² (MDRD-6), with key exclusions including CTP class C, refractory ascites, significant coagulopathy, intrinsic kidney disease, recent major cardiovascular events, and other protocol-defined contraindications. Participants will receive standard medical treatment (dietary measures, diuretics as indicated, metabolic control, complication management, albumin/beta-blockers as needed) and will be randomized to finerenone (5 mg/day uptitrated to 10-20 mg/day) versus spironolactone (50 mg/day uptitrated to 100-200 mg/day). The primary endpoint is incident CKD at 6 months , defined as sustained eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m² over 3 months. Secondary endpoints include MAKE/MACE/MALO at 6 months, drug-related adverse events (including hyperkalemia, hyponatremia, hypotension, hyperuricemia), AKI/AKD episodes, renal biomarkers (e.g., cystatin C, UPCR), ascites response, liver severity scores (MELD 3.0/MELD-Na/CTP), and metabolic/inflammatory/endothelial markers (e.g., HbA1c, HOMA-IR, hsCRP, vWF). Sample size (n=160; 80/arm) is powered to detect an absolute 20% reduction in CKD progression (35% to 15%) with 80% power and 5% alpha (10% dropout), with intention-to-treat analyses including Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age > 18 years <80years
2. Patient of MASLD/ NAFLD cirrhosis with clinical ascites
3. Stable eGFR-(>60 ml/min/1.73m2) calculated using MDRD-6 equation: eGFR (ml/min/1.73 m2) = 170 × (Scr)-0.999 × (Age)-0.176 × (0.762 if patient is female) × (1.180 if black) × (SUN)-0.170 × (Albumin)0.318

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Age <18 years >80 years
2. K/C/O systemic hypertension.
3. Coagulopathy- INR >2.5
4. Post TIPS
5. CTP class C
6. Any intrinsic/structural kidney disease.
7. Refractory Ascites
8. Patient with HCC(outside MILAN criteria) or portal vein thrombosis
9. Pregnancy or Lactating mother
10. Receiving cytotoxic therapy, immunosuppressive therapy or other immunotherapy for primary or secondary renal disease within 6 months prior to enrolment
11. Patients with anuria, acute renal failure, or Addison's disease
12. Heart failure (NYHA II to IV)
13. History of hospitalization for hyperkalaemia or acute renal failure induced by previous aldosterone antagonist treatment
14. Ongoing drug or alcohol abuse
15. Uncontrolled type 2 DM ( HbA1C > 9)
16. MI, unstable angina, stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) within 12 weeks prior to enrolment
17. Coronary revascularization (percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI] or coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG]) or valvular repair/replacement within 12 weeks prior to enrolment or is planned to undergo any of these procedures after randomisation
18. Diagnosed Mixed ascites (additional etiology of ascites apart from portal hypertension)
19. Patients who are on spirinolactone with stable ascites in the past 12 weeks
20. Refusal to give consent