Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Improves Survival in Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis

Experimental models have suggested that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has the ability to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells, induce liver regeneration, and improve survival in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis.

In the current prospective, open-label, pilot study, investigators randomized 46 patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis, defined as having a modified Maddrey's discriminant function of ≥32, to standard of care (400 mg of pentoxifylline 3 times daily) plus G-CSF (5 µg/kg subcutaneously every 12 hours for 5 days) or standard of care alone. The primary outcome was 90-day survival, and secondary outcomes included improvement in Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Child-Pugh scores, safety, and mobilization…