Dataset Information

Ursodeoxycholic acid in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy: a secondary analysis of the PITCHES trial.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To evaluate whether a particular group of women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), based on their presenting characteristics, would benefit from treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA).

Design

Secondary analysis of the PITCHES trial (ISRCTN91918806).

Setting

United Kingdom.

Population or sample

527 women with ICP.

Methods

Subgroup analyses were performed to determine whether baseline bile acid concentrations or baseline itch scores moderated a woman's response to treatment with UDCA.

Main outcome measures

Bile acid concentration and itch score.

Results

In women with baseline bile acid concentrations less than 40 μmol/l, treatment with UDCA resulted in increased post-randomisation bile acid concentrations (geometric mean ratio 1.19, 95% CI 1.00-1.41, P = 0.048). A test of interaction showed no significance (P = 0.647). A small, clinically insignificant difference was seen in itch response in women with a high baseline itch score (-6.0 mm, 95% CI -11.80 to -0.21, P = 0.042), with a test of interaction not showing significance (P = 0.640). Further subgroup analyses showed no significance. Across all women there was a weak relationship between bile acid concentrations and itch severity.

Conclusions

There was no subgroup of women with ICP in whom a beneficial effect of treatment with UDCA on bile acid concentration or itch score could be identified. This confirms that its routine use in women with this condition for improvement of bile acid concentration or itch score should be reconsidered.

Tweetable abstract

PITCHES: No group of women with ICP has been found in whom UDCA reduces bile acid concentrations or pruritus.

SUBMITTER: Fleminger J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8246759 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundIntrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, characterised by maternal pruritus and increased serum bile acid concentrations, is associated with increased rates of stillbirth, preterm birth, and neonatal unit admission. Ursodeoxycholic acid is widely used as a treatment without an adequate evidence base. We aimed to evaluate whether ursodeoxycholic acid reduces adverse perinatal outcomes in women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.MethodsWe did a double-blind, multicentre, randomised placebo-controlled trial at 33 hospital maternity units in England and Wales. We recruited women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, who were aged 18 years or older and with a gestational age between 20 weeks and 40 weeks and 6 days, with a singleton or twin pregnancy and no known lethal fetal anomaly. Participants were randomly assigned 1:1 to ursodeoxycholic acid or placebo, given as two oral tablets a day at an equivalent dose of 500 mg twice a day. The dose could be increased or decreased at the clinician's discretion, to a maximum of four tablets and a minimum of one tablet a day. We recommended that treatment should be continued from enrolment until the infant's birth. The primary outcome was a composite of perinatal death (in-utero fetal death after randomisation or known neonatal death up to 7 days after birth), preterm delivery (<37 weeks' gestation), or neonatal unit admission for at least 4 h (from birth until hospital discharge). Each infant was counted once within this composite. All analyses were done according to the intention-to-treat principle. The trial was prospectively registered with the ISRCTN registry, number 91918806.FindingsBetween Dec 23, 2015, and Aug 7, 2018, 605 women were enrolled and randomly allocated to receive ursodeoxycholic acid (n=305) or placebo (n=300). The primary outcome analysis included 304 women and 322 infants in the ursodeoxycholic acid group, and 300 women and 318 infants in the placebo group (consent to use data was withdrawn for 1 woman and 2 infants). The primary composite outcome occurred in 74 (23%) of 322 infants in the ursodeoxycholic acid group and 85 (27%) of 318 infants in the placebo group (adjusted risk ratio 0·85 [95% CI 0·62-1·15]). Two serious adverse events were reported in the ursodeoxycholic acid group and six serious adverse events were reported in the placebo group; no serious adverse events were regarded as being related to treatment.InterpretationTreatment with ursodeoxycholic acid does not reduce adverse perinatal outcomes in women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Therefore, its routine use for this condition should be reconsidered.FundingNational Institute for Health Research Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme.

Project description:BackgroundIntrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is the most common liver disorder specific to pregnancy and presents with maternal pruritus, raised concentrations of serum bile acids and abnormal liver function tests. ICP is associated with increased rates of spontaneous and iatrogenic preterm labour, fetal hypoxia, meconium-stained amniotic fluid and intrauterine death. Some clinicians treat ICP with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) to improve maternal pruritus and biochemical abnormalities. However, there are currently no data to support the use of UDCA to improve pregnancy outcome as none of the trials performed to date have been powered to address this question.MethodsThe PITCHES trial is a triple-masked, placebo-controlled randomised trial, to evaluate UDCA versus placebo in women with ICP between 20?+?0 to 40?+?6 weeks' gestation. The primary objective of the trial is to determine if UDCA treatment of women with ICP between 20?+?0 and 40?+?6 weeks' gestation reduces the primary perinatal outcome: a composite of perinatal death (as defined by in utero fetal death after randomisation or known neonatal death up to 7 days) or preterm delivery (less than 37 weeks' gestation) or neonatal unit admission for at least 4 h (from infant delivery until hospital discharge). The secondary objectives of the trial are (1) to investigate the effect of UDCA on other short-term outcomes for both mother and infant and (2) to assess the impact of UDCA on health care resource use, in terms of the total number of nights for mother and infant, together with level of care.DiscussionCurrent practice in the UK at the time of trial commencement for the treatment of ICP is inconsistent, with some units routinely prescribing UDCA, others prescribing very little and the remainder offering it variably. Our previous pilot trial of UDCA in women with ICP demonstrated that the trial would be feasible, and the research question remains active and unanswered. Results are highly likely to influence clinical practice, through direct management and impact on national and international guidelines.Trial registrationISRCTN registry, ID: ISRCTN91918806 . Prospectively registered on 27 August 2015.

Project description:BackgroundUrsodeoxycholic acid is commonly used to treat intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, yet its largest trial detected minimal benefit for a composite outcome (stillbirth, preterm birth, and neonatal unit admission). We aimed to examine whether ursodeoxycholic acid affects specific adverse perinatal outcomes.MethodsIn this systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Global Health, MIDIRS, and Cochrane without language restrictions for relevant articles published between database inception, and Jan 1, 2020, using search terms referencing intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, ursodeoxycholic acid, and perinatal outcomes. Eligible studies had 30 or more study participants and reported on at least one individual with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and bile acid concentrations of 40 μmol/L or more. We also included two unpublished cohort studies. Individual participant data were collected from the authors of selected studies. The primary outcome was the prevalence of stillbirth, for which we anticipated there would be insufficient data to achieve statistical power. Therefore, we included a composite of stillbirth and preterm birth as a main secondary outcome. A mixed-effects meta-analysis was done using multi-level modelling and adjusting for bile acid concentration, parity, and multifetal pregnancy. Individual participant data analyses were done for all studies and in different subgroups, which were produced by limiting analyses to randomised controlled trials only, singleton pregnancies only, or two-arm studies only. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42019131495.FindingsThe authors of the 85 studies fulfilling our inclusion criteria were contacted. Individual participant data from 6974 women in 34 studies were included in the meta-analysis, of whom 4726 (67·8%) took ursodeoxycholic acid. Stillbirth occurred in 35 (0·7%) of 5097 fetuses among women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy treated with ursodeoxycholic acid and in 12 (0·6%) of 2038 fetuses among women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy not treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1·04, 95% CI 0·35-3·07; p=0·95). Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment also had no effect on the prevalence of stillbirth when considering only randomised controlled trials (aOR 0·29, 95% CI 0·04-2·42; p=0·25). Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment had no effect on the prevalence of the composite outcome in all studies (aOR 1·28, 95% CI 0·86-1·91; p=0·22), but was associated with a reduced composite outcome when considering only randomised controlled trials (0·60, 0·39-0·91; p=0·016).InterpretationUrsodeoxycholic acid treatment had no significant effect on the prevalence of stillbirth in women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, but our analysis was probably limited by the low overall event rate. However, when considering only randomised controlled trials, ursodeoxycholic acid was associated with a reduction in stillbirth in combination with preterm birth, providing evidence for the clinical benefit of antenatal ursodeoxycholic acid treatment.FundingTommy's, the Wellcome Trust, ICP Support, and the National Institute for Health Research.

Project description:ObjectivesTo test whether ursodeoxycholic acid reduces pruritus in women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, whether early term delivery does not increase the incidence of caesarean section, and the feasibility of recruiting women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy to trials of these interventions.DesignFirst phase of a semifactorial randomised controlled trial.SettingNine consultant led maternity units, United Kingdom.Participants125 women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (pruritus and raised levels of serum bile acids) or pruritus and raised alanine transaminase levels (>100 IU/L) recruited after 24 weeks' gestation and followed until delivery. 56 women were randomised to ursodeoxycholic acid, 55 to placebo, 30 to early term delivery, and 32 to expectant management.InterventionsUrsodeoxycholic acid 500 mg twice daily or placebo increased as necessary for symptomatic or biochemical improvement until delivery; early term delivery (induction or delivery started between 37+0 and 37+6) or expectant management (spontaneous labour awaited until 40 weeks' gestation or caesarean section undertaken by normal obstetric guidelines, usually after 39 weeks' gestation).Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome for ursodeoxycholic acid was maternal itch (arithmetic mean of measures (100 mm visual analogue scale) of worst itch in past 24 hours) and for the timing of delivery was caesarean section. Secondary outcomes were other maternal and perinatal outcomes and recruitment rates.ResultsUrsodeoxycholic acid reduced itching by -16 mm (95% confidence interval -27 mm to -6 mm), less than the 30 mm difference prespecified by clinicians and women as clinically meaningful. 32% (14/44) of women randomised to ursodeoxycholic acid experienced a reduction in worst itching by at least 30 mm compared with 16% (6/37) randomised to placebo. The difference of 16% (95% confidence interval -3 to 34); this would represent a number needed to treat of 6, but it failed to reach significance. Early term delivery did not increase caesarean sections (7/30 (23%) in the early term delivery group versus 11/32 (33%) in the expectant management group (relative risk 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.31 to 1.57). No serious harms were noted in either trial. 22% (73/325) of eligible women participated in the drug trial and 19% (39/209) in the timing of delivery trial; both groups had a similar spectrum of disease severity to non-participants.ConclusionsUrsodeoxycholic acid significantly reduces pruritus, but the size of the benefit may be too small for most doctors to recommend it, or for most women to want to take it. Women are, however, likely to differ in whether they consider the benefit to be worthwhile. Planned early term delivery seems not to increase incidence of caesarean section, although a small increase cannot be excluded. A trial to test whether ursodeoxycholic acid reduces adverse perinatal outcomes would have to be large, but is feasible. A trial to test the effect of early term delivery on adverse fetal outcomes would have to be significantly larger and may not be feasible.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN37730443.

Project description:BackgroundICP pregnant women have a unique profile of serum bile acid metabolism, thus the early and accurate identification of ICP patients is beneficial to early appropriate treatment and improvement of pregnancy outcomes. In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the 15 types of serum bile acid profiles among patients with ICP in third trimester, patients with cholelithiasis, and patients with hepatitis B virus. The ICP diagnostic model established by partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to screen the differential bile acids for clinical subtypes of ICP. 144 cases of ICP patients were involved in this study, and divided into four subgroups according to serum level of TBA, DBIL, and ALT.Results(1) The differential serum bile acid profiles of ICP group and normal pregnant women were DCA, TDCA, TCA, GDCA and GLCA. (2) The differential serum bile acid profiles of the ICP1 group (ICP with jaundice) and normal pregnant women were TCDCA, TCA, GCA, GCDCA, TUDCA and GUDCA. (3) The differential serum bile acid profiles of the ICP3 group (Hyperchoicemia of pregnancy) and normal pregnant group was GUDCA, LCA, GLCA, UDCA, TUDCA, CDCA, and TLCA (P < 0.05). (4) The differential serum bile acid profiles of ICP4 group (idiopathic aminotransferase abnormality during pregnancy) and normal pregnant group was UDCA, GUDCA, TUDCA, GCA and GLCA (P < 0.05). (5) The occurrence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid, premature delivery and cesarean section in ICP1 group was significantly higher than normal group, ICP2 group, ICP3 group, and ICP4 group (P < 0.05); The occurrence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid, premature delivery and cesarean section in ICP2 group, ICP3 group, and ICP4 group was significantly higher than normal group (P < 0.05), but no difference was found among ICP2 group, ICP3 group, and ICP4 group (P > 0.05).ConclusionMaternal serum bile acid profiles are useful to differentiate the four subtypes of ICP. ICP with jaundice could be an important predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes of ICP.