Renal effects of a urodilatin infusion in patients with liver cirrhosis, with and without ascites.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Lithium.

URO is a natriuretic peptide.

A total of 15 cirrhotic patients with ascites and nine without ascites participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in a crossover design.

Who Took Part

The study group was 15 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Because people in this Lithium study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Lithium study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Lithium, giving a reference point.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Lithium and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Renal hemodynamics were estimated by a clearance technique using radioactive tracers, and tubular handling of sodium was evaluated by the lithium clearance method.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Ascites, Atrial Natriuretic Factor, Cyclic GMP, Diuretics, Dizziness, Glomerular Filtration Rate and Kidney Tubules.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Lithium in 15 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1998 (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.