Caraceni, P;
Vargas, V;
Solà, E;
Alessandria, C;
De Wit, K;
Trebicka, J;
Angeli, P;
... Liverhope Consortium; + view all
(2021)
The use of Rifaximin in Patients with Cirrhosis.
Hepatology
10.1002/hep.31708.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
hep.31708.pdf - Accepted Version Download (14MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Rifaximin is an oral non‐systemic antibiotic, with minimal gastrointestinal absorption and broad‐spectrum antibacterial activity covering both grampositive and gramnegative organisms. Rifaximin is currently worldwide used in patients with cirrhosis for preventing recurrent hepatic encephalopathy because its efficacy and safety has been proved by large randomized clinical trials. In the last decade, experimental and clinical evidence suggest that rifaximin could have other beneficial effects on the course of cirrhosis by modulating the gut microbiome and affecting the gut‐liver axis, which, in turn, can interfere with major events of the pathophysiological cascade underlying decompensated cirrhosis, such as systemic inflammatory syndrome, portal hypertension, and bacterial infections. However, the use of rifaximin for prevention or treatment of other complications, including spontaneous bacterial peritonitis or other bacterial infections, is not accepted as evidence by clinical trials is still very weak. The present review deals in the first part with the potential impact of rifaximin on pathogenic mechanisms in liver diseases, whereas, in the second part, its clinical effects are critically discussed. It clearly emerges that, due to its potential activity on multiple pathogenic events, the efficacy of rifaximin in the prevention or management of complications other than hepatic encephalopathy deserves to be investigated extensively. The results of double‐blinded, adequately powered randomized clinical trials assessing the effect of rifaximin, alone or in combination with other drugs, on hard clinical endpoints, such as decompensation of cirrhosis, acute‐on‐chronic liver failure and mortality, are therefore eagerly awaited.
Type: | Article |
---|---|
Title: | The use of Rifaximin in Patients with Cirrhosis |
Location: | United States |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1002/hep.31708 |
Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.31708 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. |
Keywords: | bacterial translocation, chronic liver diseases, gut-liver axis, liver fibrosis, portal hypertension |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Inst for Liver and Digestive Hlth |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10123030 |
Archive Staff Only
View Item |