Trial reportPloS one2017
A randomised controlled trial of losartan as an anti-fibrotic agent in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Trial report in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Assessment of Common Medications for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review with network meta-analysis: comparative efficacy of pharmacologic therapies for fibrosis improvement and resolution of NASH.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Randomized placebo-controlled trial of losartan for pediatric NAFLD.Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) · 2022Trial
- Digital Pathology Tailored for Assessment of Liver Biopsies.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Phytonanotherapy for the Treatment of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease as an Emerging Risk Factor for Heart Failure.Current heart failure reports · 2023Review
- Therapies for patients with coexisting heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.World journal of cardiology · 2023Review
- Use of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors in Patients With Liver Disease.Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2023Article
- Effects of losartan in patients with NAFLD: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.Open life sciences · 2023Review
- Development of antifibrotic therapy for stricturing Crohn's disease: lessons from randomized trials in other fibrotic diseases.Physiological reviews · 2022Review
- Therapeutic targets, novel drugs, and delivery systems for diabetes associated NAFLD and liver fibrosis.Advanced drug delivery reviews · 2021Review
- Treatments for NAFLD: State of Art.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Update on New Aspects of the Renin-Angiotensin System in Hepatic Fibrosis and Portal Hypertension: Implications for Novel Therapeutic Options.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Clinical implications of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors for development and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Effect of Candesartan and Ramipril on Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Viral Infection: A Randomized Controlled Prospective Study.Current therapeutic research, clinical and experimental · 2021Article
- The Evaluation of Effective Drugs for the Treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Advanced pharmaceutical bulletin · 2020Review
- Pharmacologic therapy for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis focusing on pathophysiology.Yeungnam University journal of medicine · 2019Review
- Effects of probiotics on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2019Article
- Risk of cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmias in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disease worldwide. Experimental and small clinical trials have demonstrated that angiotensin II blockers (ARB) may be anti-fibrotic in the liver. The aim of this randomised controlled trial was to assess whether treatment with Losartan for 96 weeks slowed, halted or reversed the progression of fibrosis in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
methodsDouble-blind randomised-controlled trial of Losartan 50 mg once a day versus placebo for 96 weeks in patients with histological evidence of NASH. The primary outcome for the study was change in histological fibrosis stage from pre-treatment to end-of-treatment.
resultsThe study planned to recruit 214 patients. However, recruitment was slower than expected, and after 45 patients were randomised (median age 55; 56% male; 60% diabetic; median fibrosis stage 2), enrolment was suspended. Thirty-two patients (15 losartan and 17 placebo) completed follow up period: one patient (6.7%) treated with losartan and 4 patients (23.5%) in the placebo group were "responders" (lower fibrosis stage at follow up compared with baseline). The major reason for slow recruitment was that 39% of potentially eligible patients were already taking an ARB or angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), and 15% were taking other prohibited medications.
conclusionsDue to the widespread use of ACEI and ARB in patients with NASH this trial failed to recruit sufficient patients to determine whether losartan has anti-fibrotic effects in the liver.
trial registrationISRCTN 57849521.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.