Moexipril for Treatment of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis in Patients with an Incomplete Response to Ursodeoxycholic Acid

Blockade of angiotensin II synthesis attenuates hepatic fibrosis in different experimental models of chronic liver injury. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of moexipril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) who have had a suboptimal response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Twenty PBC patients on UDCA (13–15 mg/kg/day) therapy with an elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase at least twice the upper limit of normal were treated with oral moexipril 15 mg/day for one year. No significant changes in serum alkaline phosphatase (379 ± 32 vs. 379 ± 51), bilirubin (0.8 ± 0.1 vs. 0.9 ± 0.1), aspartate aminotransferase (60 ± 8 vs. 63 ± 9), and Mayo risk score (3.55 ± 0.2 vs. 3.62 ± 0.2) was associated with the treatment. Fatigue and health-related quality of life scores during treatment demonstrated a trend toward improvement. Moexipril was not clinically beneficial to PBC patients responding suboptimally to UDCA.