U01DK130180

Prospective evaluation of outcomes in cirrhosis of different etiologies: Impact of HIV infection and simvastatin therapy - Chronic liver disease, primarily cirrhosis, remains the 6th leading cause of death in adults younger than 65y in the United States. Despite advances in diagnostics and therapies, mortality in cirrhosis has not changed significantly over the last 40y and remains a major significant public health burden.

We and others have used modeling and database evaluations to show that alcohol related liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are the 2 major causes of cirrhosis in the United States. Treating the underlying etiology of cirrhosis may help fibrosis regress but whether cirrhosis is reversible is not yet established. Whether fibrosis progresses once a diagnosis of cirrhosis is established and if such a progression is related to decompensation or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are also not known.

Of the various complications of cirrhosis, sarcopenia and physical frailty due to impaired contractile function are frequent, progressive and adversely impact clinical outcomes. Despite the high clinical significance, there are no prospective studies on development, progression and predictors of sarcopenia and frailty in cirrhosis.

Co-morbidities especially infection with human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) places patients with cirrhosis at high risk of progression of fibrosis, decompensation, and sarcopenia/frailty syndrome. The gut microbiome and their metabolites (xenometabolites) play a mechanistic role in hepatic injury and complications of cirrhosis including HCC and sarcopenia but there are very limited prospective studies in human patients.

Most studies on the progression, long term complications, impact of co-morbidities and outcomes in cirrhosis are cross-sectional, have small number of subjects, and do not translate advances in mechanistic understanding of development of cirrhosis or its complications into clinical practice. Therefore, prospective studies in well characterized cirrhosis are critical to develop effective management strategies and improve outcomes.

There is increasing interest in the use of statins in the management of cirrhosis due to anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects that may prevent decompensation and HCC. The Cleveland Clinic Health System is one of the largest clinical programs with a large population of patients with cirrhosis who are referred for long-term management including liver transplantation, because of our expertise in innovative approaches to patient care including televisits and applications of digital health incorporated into integrated electronic medical records.

In response to the RFA PAR DK-20-003, we propose to be a part of a liver cirrhosis network to establish a longitudinal cohort of patients with cirrhosis, primarily alcohol related and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with co-morbidities including HIV infection. We will develop a database of well characterized patients and a biorepository from these patients to advance our mechanistic understanding of progression of cirrhosis, development of complications and identify novel biomarkers and therapies to improve clinical outcomes.

We will also conduct a prospective randomized clinical trial using simvastatin/placebo in well characterized patients with cirrhosis as part of the network to determine clinical responses and safety.

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College Of Medicine Of Case Western Reserve University

(1) TO PROMOTE EXTRAMURAL BASIC AND CLINICAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH THAT IMPROVES THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DISEASE AND LEADS TO IMPROVED PREVENTIONS, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, AND KIDNEY DISEASES. PROGRAMMATIC AREAS WITHIN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES AND DIGESTIVE AND KIDNEY DISEASES INCLUDE DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, ENDOCRINE, HEMATOLOGIC, LIVER, METABOLIC, NEPHROLOGIC, NUTRITION, OBESITY, AND UROLOGIC DISEASES. SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: (A) FOR DIABETES, ENDOCRINE, AND METABOLIC DISEASES AREAS: FUNDAMENTAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES INCLUDING THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND CURE OF DIABETES MELLITUS AND ITS COMPLICATIONS, NORMAL AND ABNORMAL FUNCTION OF THE PITUITARY, THYROID, PARATHYROID, ADRENAL, AND OTHER HORMONE SECRETING GLANDS, HORMONAL REGULATION OF BONE, ADIPOSE TISSUE, AND LIVER, ON FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION, INCLUDING THE ACTION OF HORMONES, COREGULATORS, AND CHROMATIN REMODELING PROTEINS, HORMONE BIOSYNTHESIS, SECRETION, METABOLISM, AND BINDING, AND ON HORMONAL REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION AND THE ROLE(S) OF SELECTIVE RECEPTOR MODULATORS AS PARTIAL AGONISTS OR ANTAGONISTS OF HORMONE ACTION, AND FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES RELEVANT TO METABOLIC DISORDERS INCLUDING MEMBRANE STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND TRANSPORT PHENOMENA AND ENZYME BIOSYNTHESIS, AND BASIC AND CLINICAL STUDIES ON THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT OF INHERITED METABOLIC DISORDERS (SUCH AS CYSTIC FIBROSIS). (B) FOR DIGESTIVE DISEASE AND NUTRITION AREAS: GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF THE GI TRACT AND ITS DISEASES, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF LIVER/PANCREAS AND DISEASES, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF NUTRITION, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF OBESITY, BARIATRIC SURGERY, CLINICAL NUTRITION RESEARCH, CLINICAL OBESITY RESEARCH, COMPLICATIONS OF CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE, FATTY LIVER DISEASE, GENETIC LIVER DISEASE, HIV AND LIVER, CELL INJURY, REPAIR, FIBROSIS AND INFLAMMATION IN THE LIVER, LIVER CANCER, LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, PEDIATRIC LIVER DISEASE, VIRAL HEPATITIS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GASTROINTESTINAL AND NUTRITION EFFECTS OF AIDS, GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSAL AND IMMUNOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL MOTILITY, BASIC NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL DEVELOPMENT, GASTROINTESTINAL EPITHELIAL BIOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL INFLAMMATION, DIGESTIVE DISEASES EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DATA SYSTEMS, NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DATA SYSTEMS, AUTOIMMUNE LIVER DISEASE, BILE, BILIRUBIN AND CHOLESTASIS, BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY RELATED TO DIGESTIVE DISEASES, LIVER, NUTRITION AND OBESITY, CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE LIVER, DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND REGENERATION, DRUG-INDUCED LIVER DISEASE, GALLBLADDER DISEASE AND BILIARY DISEASES, EXOCRINE PANCREAS BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, GASTROINTESTINAL NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL TRANSPORT AND ABSORPTION, NUTRIENT METABOLISM, PEDIATRIC CLINICAL OBESITY, CLINICAL TRIALS IN DIGESTIVE DISEASES, LIVER CLINICAL TRIALS, OBESITY PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, AND OBESITY AND EATING DISORDERS. (C) FOR KIDNEY, UROLOGIC AND HEMATOLOGIC DISEASES AREAS: STUDIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND CELL BIOLOGY OF THE KIDNEY, PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF THE KIDNEY, GENETICS OF KIDNEY DISORDERS, IMMUNE MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY DISEASE, KIDNEY DISEASE AS A COMPLICATION OF DIABETES, EFFECTS OF DRUGS, NEPHROTOXINS AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS ON THE KIDNEY, MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY INJURY REPAIR, IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE AND END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE, IMPROVED APPROACHES TO MAINTENANCE DIALYSIS THERAPIES, BASIC STUDIES OF LOWER URINARY TRACT CELL BIOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, CLINICAL STUDIES OF BLADDER DYSFUNCTION, INCONTINENCE, PYELONEPHRITIS, INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS, BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA, UROLITHIASIS, AND VESICOURETERAL REFLUX, DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS AND IMPROVED THERAPIES, INCLUDING TISSUE ENGINEERING STRATEGIES, FOR UROLOGIC DISORDERS,RESEARCH ON HEMATOPOIETIC CELL DIFFERENTIATION, METABOLISM OF IRON OVERLOAD AND DEFICIENCY, STRUCTURE, BIOSYNTHESIS AND GENETIC REGULATION OF HEMOGLOBIN, AS WELL AS RESEARCH ON THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, AND THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES FOR THE ANEMIA OF INFLAMMATION AND CHRONIC DISEASES. (2) TO ENCOURAGE BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTISTS DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS. THE RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARD (NRSA) FUNDS BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING, SUPPORT FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT, AND THE TRANSITION FROM POSTDOCTORAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TRAINING TO INDEPENDENT RESEARCH RELATED TO DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, ENDOCRINE, HEMATOLOGIC, LIVER, METABOLIC, NEPHROLOGIC, NUTRITION, OBESITY, AND UROLOGIC DISEASES. (3) TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM. THE SBIR PROGRAM AIMS TO INCREASE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO ENHANCE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. (4) TO UTILIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM. THE STTR PROGRAM INTENDS TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.273 - Alcohol Research Programs

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) [HHS - NIH]

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) [HHS - NIH]

Cleveland, Ohio 44195 United States

Single Zip Code

Liver Cirrhosis Network: Clinical Research Centers (U01 Clinical Trial Required) (RFA-DK-20-003)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 08/31/26 to 07/31/26 and the total obligations have increased 764% from $379,411 to $3,276,651.