Medication options in the management of primary biliary cholangitis

Abstract

Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic liver disease characterized by persistent cholestasis in the liver. PBC treatment aims to control symptoms, slow disease progression, prevent liver complications and improve patients' quality of life. UDCA therapy is considered first-line treatment for patients with PBC. PBC is a condition that presents clinical variety and may have treatment variability. Therefore, it is important to evaluate current treatment methods to evaluate advances in drug options for treating cholangitis. This is a systematic review of the literature that evaluated therapeutic advances in the approach to PBC, based on clinical trials produced in the last 5 years, based on the electronic databases PubMed, LILACS, Periódicos CAPES, EMBASE and Scielo. Therefore, this article reviewed a variety of recent clinical trials that explored different therapeutic approaches for PBC, an autoimmune disease that affects the liver. Studies have investigated the use of medications such as elafibranor, seladelpar, OCA, linerixibat, and budesonide, each showing varying results in terms of effectiveness in improving symptoms and biomarkers of PBC. Future research is essential to evaluate therapeutic combinations, long-term effects, and the impact on patients' quality of life, aiming to optimize the management of this complex condition and improve long-term clinical results.