The Association Between Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor or Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Exposure and Key Cirrhosis-Related Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) may have hepatic benefits in patients with primarily chronic liver disease. ACE-I/ARB have not been evaluated in broad cohorts inclusive of those with decompensated cirrhosis. We analyzed the real-world association between ACE-I/ARB exposure and cirrhosis-related outcomes in a national cohort.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective, active comparator new user study of patients with cirrhosis in the Veterans Health Administration. We identified new initiators of ACE-I/ARB or calcium channel blockers (comparator). Inverse probability treatment weighting balanced key confounders and Cox regression evaluated the association between ACE-I/ARB and outcomes of mortality, cirrhosis decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In exploratory analysis, cause-specific competing risk models evaluated liver-related vs cardiovascular (CV)-related vs nonliver/non-CV-related mortality.

RESULTS

There were 904 ACE-I/ARB and 352 calcium channel blocker new initiators. In inverse probability treatment weighting Cox regression, ACE-I/ARB exposure was associated with reduced mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.61-0.81, P < 0.001). In patients with compensated cirrhosis, ACE-I/ARB were not associated with hepatic decompensation or HCC. Cause-specific hazard models showed ACE-I/ARB exposure was associated with reduction in nonliver/non-CV-related mortality (cause-specific HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.38-0.62, P < 0.001) but not liver-related or CV-related mortality. In Child-Turcotte-Pugh A patients, ACE-I/ARB were associated with decreased CV-related mortality (cause-specific HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.26-0.65, P < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

ACE-I/ARB exposure was associated with reduced mortality, potentially through CV and other (renal, malignancy-related) mechanisms. In patients with compensated disease, ACE-I/ARB were not associated with hepatic decompensation or HCC. Future research should identify subsets of patients who benefit from ACE-I/ARB exposure.