Nutritional assessments for ordinary medical care in patients with chronic liver disease.

Aim:   In patients with chronic liver disease who are at risk of malnutrition, simple and useful assessments for nutritional status should be established for ordinary medical care. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and controlling nutritional status (CONUT) are simple assessments constructed of only two or three laboratory data. We aimed to describe the potential of PNI and CONUT as a nutritional assessment tool in patients with chronic liver disease.

Fish to meat intake ratio and cooking oils are associated with hepatitis C virus carriers with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels.

Aim:   Dietary habits are involved in the development of chronic inflammation; however, the impact of dietary profiles of hepatitis C virus carriers with persistently normal alanine transaminase levels (HCV-PNALT) remains unclear. The decision-tree algorithm is a data-mining statistical technique, which uncovers meaningful profiles of factors from a data collection. We aimed to investigate dietary profiles associated with HCV-PNALT using a decision-tree algorithm.

Supplementation before endoscopic therapy for esophageal varices reduces mental stress in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Background/aims: Esophageal varices are often seen in cirrhotic patients. Because endoscopic therapy for esophageal varices forces such patients to go on an extended fast until the endoscopic therapy occurs, physical and psychological stresses are induced. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of a nutritional supplement before endoscopic therapy on such stresses, and on the safety of therapy.

Subjective global assessment is not sufficient to screen patients with defective hepatic metabolism.

Background And Aims: Subjective global assessment (SGA) is useful for screening malnourished patients with several diseases, although it has been indicated to underestimate nutritional status for patients with liver disease. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of SGA as a nutritional screening tool for patients with liver disease, compared to patients with gastroenterological disease, without bias of personal ability and experience.

Methods: SGA was performed on 129 of hospitalized patients (86 with liver disease and 43 with gastroenterological disease).

Heating improves poor compliance with branched chain amino acid-rich supplementation in patients with liver cirrhosis: A before-after pilot study.

Although branched chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation improves malnutrition in cirrhotic patients, patient compliance with the administration of BCAA-rich supplements is poor due to their bitter taste. Since temperature is an important factor affecting taste, we examined the effect of heating on the stability of BCAAs and on the compliance of patients with liver cirrhosis with BCAA-rich supplement administration. A thermal denaturation test was first conducted, in which the BCAA-rich supplement Aminoleban® EN was heated to 37, 60, or 80°C for 30 or 60 min.

Branched-chain amino acid supplements reduced ascites and increased the quality of life in a patient with liver cirrhosis: A case report.

Liver cirrhosis is frequently accompanied by malnutrition and hypoalbuminemia, which in turn commonly induces ascites in patients with liver cirrhosis. Ascites leads to abdominal distention and appetite loss, resulting in a deteriorated quality of life (QOL). Administration of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)-rich supplements reduces hepatic encephalopathy and malnutrition.

Body cell mass is a useful parameter for assessing malnutrition and severity of disease in non-ascitic cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or esophageal varices.

Body cell mass (BCM) is a nutritional parameter, however, changes in BCM in patients with non-ascitic liver cirrhosis (LC) in comparison to patients with other malnutritional diseases remains unclear. We investigated the difference in BCM between patients with LC and malnourished gastrointestinal disease controls (M.CON), and examined the relationship between BCM and the severity of LC.

Supplement improves nutrition and stresses caused by examination-associated fasting in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Aim: Cirrhotic patients tend to develop malnutrition by fasting, yet the importance of nutritional care during examination-associated fasting has not been investigated. This study aimed to examine the effects of a nutritional supplement on nutrition and stresses caused by examination-associated fasting in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: Twenty-nine cirrhotic patients were enrolled in this study.