Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Clinical Trials

This research study is creating a way to collect and store specimens and information from participants who may be at an increased risk of developing cancer, or has been diagnosed with an early phase of a cancer or a family member who has a family member with a precursor condition for cancer. The objective of this study is to identify exposures as well as clinical, molecular, and pathological changes that can be used to predict early development of cancer, malignant transformation, and risks of progression to symptomatic cancer that can ultimately be fatal. The ultimate goal is to identify novel markers of early detection and risk stratification to drive potential therapeutic approaches to intercept progression to cancer. Read Less

This is a proof of concept clinical trial to compare daily intake of at least 20 grams of whole dairy fat vs habitual diet on hepatic steatosis in children with NAFLD. Read Less

This will be a 6-month randomized clinical trial with two arms: moderately carbohydrate-restricted diet and a fat-restricted control diet. This 6-month study will have 2 phases: a 12-week controlled feeding phase and a 12-week "free living" phase. During the controlled feeding phase, all food will be provided to the families of the participants for the entirety of the 12 weeks. Participants (n=80) will have been diagnosed with NAFLD based on the presence of current evidence of active disease, which will be determined by the ongoing presence of hepatic steatosis estimated by diffusely echogenic liver via ultrasound suggestive of fatty liver and a serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level of 45 U/L or greater. All participants will be children and adolescents age 10-17 yrs.; will have an HbA1c <7.0; and will be overweight or obese (BMI >85th percentile). It is anticipated that most participants will be sedentary. The investigators will inquire as to routine physical activity at screening. All participants will be asked to maintain their usual level of physical activity throughout the study. Physical activity will be monitored via a smart watch provided to each participant at the beginning of the study, and participants will be queried weekly by the study dietitian regarding changes in physical activity. Participants who use oral contraceptives will be asked to maintain consistent use of these preparations throughout the study. Hormone use will be examined as a potential covariate in statistical analyses. Read Less

This is a 2 year clinical trial testing an intensive intervention to reduce dietary sugars as a means to prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in pre-pubertal Hispanic children. Read Less

The goal of this observation study is to assess whether endoscopic ultrasound shear wave elastography (EUS-SWE) may be a useful tool for liver fibrosis screening in patients with elevated body mass index and non alcoholic fatty liver disease as compared to other non-invasive screening modalities, which have traditionally had less accurate results in this population. The main questions it aims to answer are: Determine accuracy of EUS-SWE for liver fibrosis screening compared to other non-invasive scoring systems, such as the FIB-4 score and Fibroscan in patients with elevated body mass index Establish optimal stiffness (kPa) cutoffs for liver fibrosis grading for EUS-SWE for this patient population in reference to the gold standard liver biopsy, as no standard cutoffs currently exist. Participants will undergo routine endoscopic ultrasound as part of their standard clinical care and indication. Participants are consented for the procedure and undergoing the shear wave elastography. In addition to their standard ultrasound test, it takes on average an extra 2-3 minutes to perform the shear wave elastography. The procedure itself adds no additional risk to the patient and does not expose them to radiation. Read Less