Abstract
Purpose of Review
Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the liver characterized by cholestasis and destruction of bile ducts. Goals of treatment include normalization of liver enzymes and prevention of progression to cirrhosis as well as symptom control. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current state of treatment of primary biliary cholangitis.
Recent Findings
In 2021, AASLD released a statement recommending fibrates as an off-label alternative for PBC patients with inadequate response or contraindications to approved therapies. Caution should be used when considering OCA in advanced liver disease. Multiple other therapies for PBC are in phase III trials including PPAR agonists and IBAT inhibitors.
Summary
There are two FDA-approved treatments for primary biliary cholangitis, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and obeticholic acid (OCA). Obeticholic acid is used when there is inadequate response to UDCA, and fibrates can also be considered as off-label alternatives in the setting of inadequate response to first-line therapy. Several other classes of drugs are in development for primary biliary cholangitis including multiple in phase III trials.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Not applicable.
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance
Trivella J, John BV, Levy C. Primary biliary cholangitis: epidemiology, prognosis, and treatment. Hepatol Commun. 2023;7(6):e0179. https://doi.org/10.1097/HC9.0000000000000179.
Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2023 | AccessMedicine | McGraw Hill Medical. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookID=3212
Younossi ZM, Bernstein D, Shiffman ML, et al. Diagnosis and management of primary biliary cholangitis. Am J Gastroenterol. 2019;114(1):48–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41395-018-0390-3.
Lindor KD, Bowlus CL, Boyer J, Levy C, Mayo M. Primary biliary cholangitis: 2018 practice guidance from the american association for the study of liver diseases. Hepatology. 2019;69(1):394. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.30145.
Lu M, Zhou Y, Haller IV, et al. Increasing prevalence of primary biliary cholangitis and reduced mortality with treatment. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;16(8):1342–1350.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2017.12.033.
Danford CJ, Trivedi HD, Papamichael K, Tapper EB, Bonder A. Osteoporosis in primary biliary cholangitis. World J Gastroenterol. 2018;24(31):3513–20. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3513.
Seki A, Ikeda F, Miyatake H, et al. Risk of secondary osteoporosis due to lobular cholestasis in non-cirrhotic primary biliary cholangitis. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;32(9):1611–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgh.13746.
Chalifoux SL, Konyn PG, Choi G, Saab S. Extrahepatic manifestations of primary biliary cholangitis. Gut Liver. 2017;11(6):771–80. https://doi.org/10.5009/gnl16365.
Floreani A, Mangini C, Reig A, et al. Thyroid dysfunction in primary biliary cholangitis: a comparative study at two european centers. Am J Gastroenterol. 2017;112(1):114–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/ajg.2016.479.
Werner M, Prytz H, Ohlsson B, et al. Epidemiology and the initial presentation of autoimmune hepatitis in Sweden: a nationwide study. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2008;43(10):1232–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/00365520802130183.
Czaja AJ. Diagnosis and management of the overlap syndromes of autoimmune hepatitis. Can J Gastroenterol. 2013;27(7):417–23. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/198070.
• Poupon RE, Poupon R, Balkau B. Ursodiol for the long-term treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. The UDCA-PBC Study Group. N Engl J Med. 1994;330(19):1342–7. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199405123301903. Landmark randomized-controlled trial showing decreased progression and need for transplant in PBC patients treated with UDCA.
Lee J, Belanger A, Doucette JT, Stanca C, Friedman S, Bach N. Transplantation trends in primary biliary cirrhosis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007;5(11):1313–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2007.07.015.
Murillo Perez CF, Harms MH, Lindor KD, van Buuren HR, Hirschfield GM, Corpechot C, et al. Goals of treatment for improved survival in primary biliary cholangitis: treatment target should be bilirubin within the normal range and normalization of alkaline phosphatase. Am J Gastroenterol. 2020 Jul;115(7):1066–74. https://doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000000557.
• Lammers WJ, van Buuren HR, Hirschfield GM, et al. Levels of alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin are surrogate end points of outcomes of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis: an international follow-up study. Gastroenterology. 2014;147(6):1338–1349.e5; quiz e15. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2014.08.029. Meta-analysis showing that ALP and bilirubin are surrogate disease markers and can be used to predict outcomes.
• Nevens F, Andreone P, Mazzella G, et al. A placebo-controlled trial of obeticholic acid in primary biliary cholangitis. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(7):631–43. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1509840. Phase III trial showing benefit of OCA for inadequate responders to UDCA and those who cannot tolerate UDCA.
Jang H, Han N, Staatz CE, Kwak JH, Baek IH. Effect on lipid profile and clinical outcomes of obeticholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol. 2023;47(10):102227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2023.102227.
Eaton JE, Vuppalanchi R, Reddy R, Sathapathy S, Ali B, Kamath PS. Liver injury in patients with cholestatic liver disease treated with obeticholic acid. Hepatology. 2020;71(4):1511–4. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.31017.
• Corpechot C, Chazouillères O, Rousseau A, et al. A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Bezafibrate in Primary Biliary Cholangitis. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(23):2171–81. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1714519. The BEZURSO trial; a landmark trial showing improved liver tests in poor-responders to UDCA with bezafibrate + UDCA versus placebo + UDCA.
• Lindor KD, Bowlus CL, Boyer J, Levy C, Mayo M. Primary biliary cholangitis: 2021 practice guidance update from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Hepatology. 2022;75(4):1012. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.32117. AASLD Practice Guidance Update recommending fibrates as off-label therapy for non-responders to UDCA and includes warning against OCA use in advanced liver cirrhosis.
Singh A, Fritze D, Mansouri M, et al. Characteristics and outcomes of liver transplantation for primary biliary cholangitis in young patients: analysis of the united network for organ sharing database. Transplantation. 2019;103(6):1191. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000002501.
Corpechot C, Chazouillères O, Belnou P, et al. Long-term impact of preventive UDCA therapy after transplantation for primary biliary cholangitis. J Hepatol. 2020;73(3):559–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2020.03.043.
Santiago P, Scheinberg AR, Levy C. Cholestatic liver diseases: new targets, new therapies. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. 2018;11:1756284818787400. https://doi.org/10.1177/1756284818787400.
• ENHANCE: safety and efficacy of seladelpar in patients with primary biliary cholangitis—a phase 3, international, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2021;17(2 Suppl 3):5–6. Ongoing phase III trial investigating PPAR agonist seladelpar for PBC.
Bowlus CL, Galambos MR, Aspinall RJ, et al. A phase II, randomized, open-label, 52-week study of seladelpar in patients with primary biliary cholangitis. J Hepatol. 2022;77(2):353–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2022.02.033.
• Schattenberg JM, Pares A, Kowdley KV, et al. A randomized placebo-controlled trial of elafibranor in patients with primary biliary cholangitis and incomplete response to UDCA. J Hepatol. 2021;74(6):1344–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2021.01.013. Phase II trial for elafibrinor showing improvement in ALP and other secondary endpoints.
• Kowdley KV, Bowlus CL, Levy C, Akarca US, Alvares-da-Silva MR, Andreone P, et al. Efficacy and safety of elafibranor in primary biliary cholangitis. N Engl J Med. 2023; https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2306185. Phase 3 trial for elafibrinor showing improvement in ALP and other biochemical indicators.
Kowdley KV, Minuk GY, Pagadala MR, Gulamhusein A, Swain MG, Neff GW, et al. The nonsteroidal farnesoid x receptor (FXR) agonist cilofexor improves liver biochemistry in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC): A phase 2, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Hepatology. 2019;70:31A–2A.
Galoosian A, Hanlon C, Zhang J, Holt EW, Yimam KK. Clinical updates in primary biliary cholangitis: trends, epidemiology, diagnostics, and new therapeutic approaches. J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2020;8(1):49–60. https://doi.org/10.14218/JCTH.2019.00049.
Invernizzi P, Carbone M, Jones D, et al. Setanaxib, a first-in-class selective NADPH oxidase 1/4 inhibitor for primary biliary cholangitis: A randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial. Liver Int. 2023;15. https://doi.org/10.1111/liv.15596.
• Jones D, Carbone M, Invernizzi P, et al. Impact of setanaxib on quality of life outcomes in primary biliary cholangitis in a phase 2 randomized controlled trial. Hepatol Commun. 2023;7(3):e0057. https://doi.org/10.1097/HC9.0000000000000057. In this post-hoc analysis, patients receiving setanaxib 400 twice a day compared to daily or placebo had improvements in all domains of the PBC-40 except itch.
Maralixibat: First Approval | SpringerLink. Accessed June 7, 2023. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40265-021-01649-0
Odevixibat: First Approval | SpringerLink. Accessed June 7, 2023. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40265-021-01594-y
Mayo MJ, Pockros PJ, Jones D, et al. A randomized, controlled, phase 2 study of maralixibat in the treatment of itching associated with primary biliary cholangitis. Hepatol Commun. 2019;3(3):365–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep4.1305.
Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Volixibat in the Treatment of Cholestatic Pruritus in Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis. clinicaltrials.gov; 2023. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05050136
• Levy C, Kendrick S, Bowlus CL, et al. GLIMMER: A randomized phase 2b dose-ranging trial of linerixibat in primary biliary cholangitis patients with pruritus. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2022.10.032. In this phase two trial, linerixibat was associated with improvement in PBC-related itch.
Hirschfield GM, Beuers U, Kupcinskas L, et al. A placebo-controlled randomised trial of budesonide for PBC following an insufficient response to UDCA. J Hepatol. 2021;74(2):321–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2020.09.011.
Myers RP, Swain MG, Lee SS, Shaheen AAM, Burak KW. B-cell depletion with rituximab in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis refractory to ursodeoxycholic acid. Am J Gastroenterol. 2013;108(6):933–41. https://doi.org/10.1038/ajg.2013.51.
Khanna A, Jopson L, Howel D, et al. Rituximab is ineffective for treatment of fatigue in primary biliary cholangitis: a phase 2 randomized controlled trial. Hepatology. 2019;70(5):1646–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.30099.
Bowlus CL, Yang GX, Liu CH, et al. Therapeutic trials of biologics in primary biliary cholangitis: An open label study of abatacept and review of the literature. J Autoimmun. 2019;101:26–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaut.2019.04.005.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K. C. wrote the main text and prepared the figures, compiled, reviewed and edited the manuscript
M. H. S. wrote portions of the main text, reviewed and edited the manuscript
G. C. provided project oversight, reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest
Kaitlyn Carlson, Madeleine Hines Salge, and George Cholankeril declare no conflicts of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Carlson, K., Salge, M.H. & Cholankeril, G. Primary Biliary Cholangitis: Updates in Management and Goals of Treatment. Curr Hepatology Rep (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-024-00667-2
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-024-00667-2