ArticleThe American journal of gastroenterology2018
Effects of Bezafibrate on Outcome and Pruritus in Primary Biliary Cholangitis With Suboptimal Ursodeoxycholic Acid Response.
Article in The American journal of gastroenterology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 7 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
42 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of fibrates in the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis: a meta-analysis.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Cholestatic Pruritus Treatments in Primary Biliary Cholangitis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: A Systematic Literature Review.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Pharmacological interventions for pruritus in adult palliative care patients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Bezafibrate Alone or in Combination with Ursodeoxycholic Acid in Primary Biliary Cholangitis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of Treatments for Cholestatic Pruritus: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2022Pooled it
- Cholestatic pruritus: Emerging mechanisms and therapeutics.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2019Pooled it
- [Ursodeoxycholic acid combined with bezafibrate in the treatment of refractory primary biliary cholangitis: a meta-analysis].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2019Pooled it
- Review Article: Targeting Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors in Primary Biliary Cholangitis.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Review
- Primary Biliary Cholangitis: Novel and Emerging Therapies.Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Article
- High biochemical remission rates in patients with primary biliary cholangitis treated with "triple" anticholestatic therapy.Hepatology communications · 2025Article
- Evolving therapeutic landscape of primary biliary cholangitis: A review.World journal of hepatology · 2025Review
- The Treatment of Primary Biliary Cholangitis: Time for Personalized Medicine.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2025Review
- Article
- Pruritus in Chronic Cholestatic Liver Diseases, Especially in Primary Biliary Cholangitis: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Impact of Pruritus on Quality of Life and Current Treatment Patterns in Patients with Primary Biliary Cholangitis.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2023Article
- Primary Biliary Cholangitis: Promising Emerging Innovative Therapies and Their Impact on GLOBE Scores.Hepatic medicine : evidence and research · 2023Review
- Systematic review: efficacy of therapies for cholestatic pruritus.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2023Review
- Artificial liver support in patients with liver failure: a modified DELPHI consensus of international experts.Intensive care medicine · 2022Review
- Cholestatic Itch: Our Current Understanding of Pathophysiology and Treatments.American journal of clinical dermatology · 2022Review
- Primary Biliary Cholangitis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Current Knowledge of Pathogenesis and Therapeutics.Biomedicines · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAdding fibrates improves liver biochemistries in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and suboptimal response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). As there are no consistent data regarding the course and outcome, we have assessed the effects of the combined treatment with UDCA and bezafibrate on a long-term basis.
methodsA total of 48 patients (45 female) with PBC treated with UDCA and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) above 1.5 times upper normal levels (× UNL) were treated with bezafibrate (400 mg/day) plus UDCA (13-16 mg/kg/day). Changes in clinical features, liver biochemistries, and prognosis after therapy were assessed, as well as pruritus, using a visual analog scale (43 patients) and the 5-D descriptive pruritus scale.
resultsAfter a median of 38 months, 26 patients (54%) had normalized ALP. In these patients, jaundice, pruritus, and liver stiffness was lower, and age was higher than in patients who remained with elevated ALP. Biochemical improvement was less prominent in patients without ALP normalization. Five of these patients (23%) developed events of disease progression: 1 died, 3 were transplanted, and 1 developed hepatocellular carcinoma. Partial or complete itching relief was reported in all but one case with pruritus. Itching recurrence or worsening was observed after bezafibrate discontinuation.
conclusionsThe long-term treatment with UDCA and bezafibrate results in excellent response, and is associated with a complete or partial itching relief. Incomplete ALP normalization was observed in patients with advanced disease who remained at risk for developing severe events. The combined treatment is mainly effective in patients with lower fibrosis and severity of cholestasis.
Indexed as
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.