Polycystic liver disease (PLD) is said to generally describe the attendance of numerous cysts sprinkled all though the normal liver tissue, in connection with Polycystic kidney disease. A study claims that a hormone mimic called Octreotide may be effectual in treating polycystic liver disease (PLD) caused by ADPKD. This study is claimed to be the first clinical trail conducted in the US to examine the effects of the agent in PLD.
Apart from causing kidney failure, ADPKD may also frequently result in PLD. Octreotide is said to imitate the somatostatin hormone that appears to adjust the secretion of numerous other hormones in the body. Somatostatin seemingly exerts its effects by obstructing both the configuration of the chemical cyclic AMP and the discharge of fluids by cells, two factors believed to play a function in the growth of kidney and liver cystic diseases.
Marie Hogan, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and her colleagues planned a clinical trial to investigate whether Octreotide could reduce the size of the cyst-filled livers of patients with PLD. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial recruited roughly 42 patients with acute PLD cased by ADPKD i.e. 34 patients or autosomal dominant PLD i.e. 8 patients. Patients were given received Octreotide or placebo and treatments were said to be administered as monthly injections.
Following a year, liver volume seemingly reduced by an average of roughly 5% in patients taking Octreotide but faintly augmented by an approximate 1% in patients taking placebo. It was seen that Octreotide also apparently encompassed an effect on the diseased kidneys of patients with ADPKD. Among these patients, total kidney volume apparently stayed virtually unaffected in the Octreotide group but augmented by more than 8% on average in the placebo group. Kidney function was believed to be akin in both groups of patients. It was observed that Octreotide was seemingly well tolerated, and treated people supposedly accounted for an enhanced perception of bodily pain and physical activity.
Dr. Hogan commented, “In summary, Octreotide slowed the progressive increase in liver volume and total kidney volume, improved health perception among patients with PLD, and had an acceptable side effect profile.â€
Robert Schrier, MD, University of Colorado Denver, observed that the study outcomes apparently support the discoveries of former animal and human studies and provide hope that augments in polycystic liver and kidney volume could be attenuated in patients with ADPKD. He mentioned that supplementary, bigger studies are required to confirm the results and to reveal whether Octreotide could offer significant health gains to patients.
The study would be published in the forthcoming issue of Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).