The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a high dose of vitamin D (VD) in patients with cirrhosis. The investigator hypothesizes that high dose VD will be safe and well-tolerated in adults with cirrhosis, and will inhibit the inflammatory and proliferative events that cause progression of cirrhosis to hepatocellular carcinoma.
This study will be done in two phases. The first phase is being done to find the highest dose of VD that can be tolerated, in other words taken without causing severe side effects. The second phase is a 6 month treatment with the dose determined to be safe in the first phase, to investigate general health benefits and the potential to reduce the development of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), also known as liver cancer. Improvement of general health will be determined by interviews with patients, markers in the blood for response to VD, bone remodeling, inflammation, and evidence of HCC on routine imaging.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Doses of vitamin D will be increased from a baseline dose to the maximum tolerated dose. There could therefore be up to 5 possible doses of Vitamin D. Once the maximum tolerated dose of vitamin D has been determined, patients will follow a regimen on that dose for 6 months.
Sibley Memorial Hospital /Johns Hopkins University
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
Number of participants on high dose Vitamin D with adverse events
Time frame: after 1 year
Changes in the expression of serum and imaging biomarkers
Time frame: After 6 months on vitamin D regimen
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