New Drugs for Hepatic Fibrosis

Abstract

The morbidity and mortality of hepatic fibrosis caused by various etiologies are high worldwide, and the trend is increasing annually. At present, there is no effective method to cure hepatic fibrosis except liver transplantation, and its serious complications threaten the health of patients and cause serious medical burdens. Additionally, there is no specific drug for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis, and many drugs with anti-hepatic fibrosis effects are in the research and development stage. Recently, remarkable progress has been made in the research and development of anti-hepatic fibrosis drugs targeting different targets. We searched websites such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Home-ClinicalTrials.gov and found approximately 120 drugs with anti-fibrosis properties, some of which are in phase Ⅱ or Ⅲ clinical trials. Additionally, although these drugs are effective against hepatic fibrosis in animal models, most clinical trials have shown poor results, mainly because animal models do not capture the complexity of human hepatic fibrosis. Besides, the effect of natural products on hepatic fibrosis has not been widely recognized at home and abroad. Furthermore, drugs targeting a single anti-hepatic fibrosis target are prone to adverse reactions. Therefore, currently, the treatment of hepatic fibrosis requires a combination of drugs that target multiple targets. Ten new drugs with potential for development against hepatic fibrosis were selected and highlighted in this mini-review, which provides a reference for clinical drug use.

Designer Cellular Spheroids with DNA Origami for Drug Screening

“…Applying the same drug GFT505 39 to both NASH models revealed minimal improvement in lipid accumulation, in ammation and brosis in NASH pNAC-Livers (Fig. 3g-i), highlighting the impact of brotic barriers on drug delivery, consistent with clinical trial failures of GFT505 in late-stage NASH patients ( brosis stage F2-3) 40 . In contrast, GFT505 applied to NASH mNAC-Livers showed weakened brosis, likely because this model only exhibits early brosis features (Fig.…”

The Role of Praziquantel in the Prevention and Treatment of Fibrosis Associated with Schistosomiasis: A Review

“…Currently, there are no effective treatments for hepatic fibrosis except liver transplantation [19]. Early diagnosis and interventions are of great importance to attenuate hepatic fibrosis; however, there are still challenges for early diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis [72].…”

“…Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), hepatic macrophages, immune cells, cytokines (interleukin (IL)-13, transformation growth factor (TGF)-β1, interferon (IFN)c), and microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to contribute to the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis-induced hepatic brosis [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Portal hypertension and ascites associated with hepatic brosis have been identi ed as the main causes of mortality among patients with chronic hepatosplenic schistosomiasis [18], and currently, there is no cure for hepatic brosis except liver transplantation [19]. However, liver transplantation su ers from problems of lack of donors, high costs, and use of immunosuppressive agents, which limits its clinical applications [20].…”

Screening and interventions to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

“…This was followed by a phase 3 trial (AURORA-NCT03028740), which was also terminated early due to lack of efficacy resulting from the planned interim analysis[ 240 ]. Several other drugs with potential anti-fibrotic effects are currently in development/evaluation, and the results are expected with interest[ 241 ].…”