Re: Marsha/colchicine

[Guest guest]

Hi Marsha;

I would not recommend taking colchicine for PSC; it does not seam to

have any favorable effects:

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Gastroenterology. 1995 Apr;108(4):1199-203.

Colchicine treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Olsson R, Broomé U, sson A, Hägerstrand I, Järnerot G, Lööf L,

Prytz H, Rydén BO, Wallerstedt S

Medical Clinics, Sahlgren's Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is no medical treatment of documented benefit

in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Colchicine has been observed

to reduce mortality in primary biliary cirrhosis in one study. The

aim of this study was to examine the effect of colchicine in PSC.

METHODS: Eighty-four patients with PSC were randomized to receive 1

mg of colchicine daily (n = 44) or placebo (n = 40) in a double-blind

3-year study. The effect of treatment was evaluated through blind

scoring of 10 variables in prestudy and poststudy liver biopsy

specimens, daily recording of symptoms, and biochemical tests (serum

bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine

aminotransferase, albumin, immunoglobulins, ceruloplasmin, alpha 1-

antitrypsin, and plasma prothrombin levels) at 6-month intervals.

RESULTS: There was no evidence of a favorable effect of colchicine on

survival, symptoms, serum biochemistry, or liver histology in

patients with PSC. CONCLUSIONS: One milligram of colchicine daily is

ineffective in PSC. PMID: 7698589.

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And in PBC it may even have a detrimental effect when many study

results are combined:

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Am J Gastroenterol. 2005 Aug;100(8):1876-85.

Colchicine for primary biliary cirrhosis: a Cochrane Hepato-Biliary

Group systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

Gong Y, Gluud C

The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group, Copenhagen Trial Unit, Center for

Clinical Intervention Research, H:S Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen

University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.

OBJECTIVES: Colchicine is used for patients with primary biliary

cirrhosis due to its immunomodulatory and antifibrotic potential. The

results from randomized clinical trials have, however, been

inconsistent. We conducted a systematical review to evaluate the

effect of colchicine for primary biliary cirrhosis. METHODS: We

identified randomized clinical trials comparing colchicine with

placebo/no intervention. We analyzed effects by fixed and random

effects model. We investigated heterogeneity by subgroup and

sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: We included 10 trials involving 631

patients, four of which were high-quality trials. No significant

differences were detected between colchicine and placebo/no

intervention regarding mortality (relative risk (RR), 1.21; 95%

confidence interval (CI), 0.71-2.06), mortality or liver

transplantation (RR = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.67-1.49), liver complications,

liver biochemical variables, liver histology, or adverse events.

Regarding mortality, an extreme case analysis favoring colchicine did

not demonstrate beneficial effects of colchicine, whereas an extreme

case analysis favoring placebo/no intervention demonstrated a

detrimental effect of colchicine (RR = 2.28; 95% CI, 1.17-4.44). The

number of patients without improvement of pruritus significantly

decreased in the colchicine group (RR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.65-0.87).

However, this estimate was based on only 156 patients from three

trials. CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to support the

use of colchicine for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. As we

are unable to exclude a risk of increased mortality, we recommend to

use colchicine only in randomized clinical trials. PMID: 16086725.

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Best regards,

Dave R.

>

> I see an Integrative Medicine Doctor who has given me a low does of

> Naltrexone to help the Immune System and also Colchicine for the

> scarring. My Gastro Doctor says Colchicine does not work. Anyone

> else know where to find out more on this.