Protein-calorie malnutrition is frequently observed in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. There have been continued interests in potential benefits of long-term oral branched-chain amino acid supplement in improving severity of liver disease. However, there are limited evidences in literature. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of oral branched-chain amino acid in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis.
This study is a multicenter retrospective cohort study involving thirteen centers in Korea nation-wide. The inclusion criteria are liver cirrhosis patients with Child-Pugh score 8 to 10. The major exclusion criteria are abnormal serum creatinine level, and hepatocellular carcinoma with viable tumor. The investigators analyzed improvement of Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, Child-Pugh score, incidence of cirrhosis-related complications, and event free survival.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
1,470
Daily dose of 12.45g of branched-chain amino acid containing 3.4g of L-valine, 5.7g of L-leucine, and 2.9g of L-isoleucine over 6 months.
Kyungpook national university hospital
Daegu, South Korea
End-Stage Liver Disease score was calculated using serum total bilirubin, creatinine, international normalized ratio
Time frame: After enrollment, the patients was assessed every 3 or 6 months for 2 years or until death
Incidence of cirrhosis-related complications including death
Time frame: After enrollment, the patients was assessed every 3 or 6 months for 2 years or until death
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