Effect of a balanced amino acid-based diet on the nitrogen metabolism in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury.

In experimental study, in white rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced injury of the liver, branched-chain amino acids of vegetable origin were found to display hepatoprotective activity against the CCL4 toxic effect. They reduced the ammonia and glutamine concentrations in the blood and brains of the experimental animals and caused a significant decrease in the concentration of the aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine and tyrosine) in the animals' brains. The results of the study indicate that branched-chain amino acids are related to the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy.