A Phase 3 interventional study of Misocholic Tab and Placebo in Alcohol-Related Liver Disease, Drug-Induced Liver Injury and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, sponsored by Hanoi Medical University. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Vietnam. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-22.
Sponsored by Hanoi Medical University · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment
Elevated liver enzymes are common laboratory abnormalities that may result from alcohol-related liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Persistent elevation of liver enzymes may indicate ongoing hepatocellular injury and increase the risk of progressive liver disease. Current management primarily focuses on treating the underlying cause and providing supportive care, while evidence for effective hepatoprotective therapies remains limited.
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Misocholic Tab, a film-coated herbal medicine, in adults with mild to moderate elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) associated with alcohol-related liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either Misocholic Tab or matching placebo for 30 days. Both groups will receive standard background therapy with silymarin.
The primary objective is to compare the change in serum ALT and AST levels from baseline to Day 30 between the two treatment groups. Secondary objectives include evaluating the proportion of participants whose liver enzyme levels return to the normal range and assessing the safety of Misocholic Tab through clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and monitoring of adverse events.
Elevated liver enzymes are among the most common abnormalities encountered in clinical practice and often reflect hepatocellular injury. Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), drug-induced liver injury (DILI), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are major causes of elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Persistent elevation of liver enzymes may indicate ongoing liver injury and is associated with progression to fibrosis, cirrhosis, or liver failure if the underlying condition is not adequately controlled.
Current management primarily consists of eliminating or controlling the underlying cause, including alcohol abstinence, withdrawal of potentially hepatotoxic medications, lifestyle modification, and supportive treatment. Although several hepatoprotective agents are used in clinical practice, evidence supporting their efficacy remains limited, and additional randomized controlled trials are needed.
Misocholic Tab is a film-coated herbal medicine developed from a traditional formulation containing dried pig bile extract, artichoke extract, garlic powder, and activated charcoal. Preclinical studies have demonstrated favorable safety profiles as well as hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-fibrotic effects in experimental models of alcohol-induced liver injury, drug-induced liver injury, and liver fibrosis. However, clinical evidence regarding its efficacy and safety in patients with elevated liver enzymes is currently limited.
This study is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Misocholic Tab in adult patients with mild to moderate elevation of ALT and/or AST associated with alcohol-related liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either Misocholic Tab or matching placebo for 30 days. Both groups will receive background therapy with silymarin according to the study protocol.
The primary efficacy endpoint is the change in serum ALT and AST levels from baseline to Day 30. Secondary endpoints include the absolute and percentage changes in liver enzyme levels, the proportion of participants achieving normalization of liver enzymes, and the assessment of safety through clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and monitoring of adverse events.
80 studies on the registry are indexed under Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; 21 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 60 is below the median of 80 across 40 interventional studies indexed under Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury.
Browse Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury studies →Hanoi Medical University is the lead sponsor of 54 studies on the registry; 17 are open to participants now.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Elevated liver enzymes primarily associated with one of the following conditions:
Exclusion Criteria:
Evidence or reasonable suspicion of another liver disease that is considered the primary cause of elevated liver enzymes, including:
Severe liver injury or advanced liver disease, including:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.
After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hepatitis B tests
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hepatitis C tests
Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.
After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Clinically significant
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will receive Misocholic Tab (1 tablet orally, three times daily after meals) for 30 days in addition to background therapy with silymarin.
Drug: Misocholic Tab · Drug: Silymarin (Silybum marianum)
Participants will receive matching placebo (1 tablet orally, three times daily after meals) for 30 days in addition to background therapy with silymarin.
Drug: Placebo · Drug: Silymarin (Silybum marianum)
Film-coated herbal medicine containing dried pig bile extract, artichoke extract, garlic powder, and activated charcoal.
Matching placebo identical in appearance, packaging, color, and taste to Misocholic Tab.
Silymarin 150 mg tablet, one tablet orally three times daily after meals for 30 days, administered as background therapy to participants in both treatment groups.
Change in serum ALT and AST levels from baseline to Day 30
Change in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) concentrations between baseline (Day 0) and the end of treatment (Day 30). The primary efficacy analysis will compare the mean change in ALT and AST levels between the Misocholic Tab group and the placebo group.
Time frame: Baseline and Day 30
Percentage change in serum ALT and AST levels
Percentage change in serum ALT and AST concentrations from baseline to Day 30.
Time frame: Baseline and Day 30
Normalization of liver enzyme levels
Proportion of participants achieving normalization of serum ALT and/or AST levels at Day 30.
Time frame: Day 30
Safety and tolerability
Incidence of adverse events, serious adverse events, treatment discontinuation due to adverse events, and changes in clinical and laboratory safety parameters during the treatment period.
Time frame: Baseline to Day 30
Plan to share: No
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury →
Hanoi Medical University