Branched-chain amino acid-enriched nutrients improve nutritional and metabolic abnormalities in the early post-transplant period after living donor liver transplantation.
Yoshida R. Yagi T et al.Journal of hepato-biliary-pancreatic sciences. 19(4) 438-448, 2011.
Aims
To establish whether perioperative use of branched-chain amino-acid (BCAA)-enriched nutrients would improve metabolic abnormalities of patients undergoing living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).
Interventions
Perioperative use of BCAA-enriched nutrients versus standard diet.
Participants
25 LDLT recipients.
Outcomes
Outcome measurements included biochemical parameters, infectious complications and clinical outcomes. Biochemical parameters included serum total bilirubin, prothrombin time-international normalized ratio, BCAA-to-tyrosine ratio and the rate of turnover of proteins, prealbumin, and retinol binding protein. Infectious complications included bacterial, fungal and cytomegalovirus infections. Clinical outcomes included the amount of fresh frozen plasma used during the post-transplant period, the length of intensive care unit and hospital stays after LDLT, and in-hospital mortality.
Follow-up
4 weeks
CET Conclusions
This small pilot trial in recipients of living donor liver transplants suggests that the perioperative use of the branched chain amino acid enriched nutrients does improve metabolic abnormalities in patients after transplantation. However the trial is not adequately powered to allow any firm conclusions to be drawn but as the authors suggest, a much larger multicentre trial would be justified.
Data analysis
Per protocol analysis
Trial registration
UMIN000004323 (UMIN Clinical Trials Registry)