In this report, we investigated comprehensive data on the nourishment state and QOL in a large group of patients with liver cirrhosis recruited in the years 2007–2011. TWO HUNDRED AND ninety-four patients with liver cirrhosis (171 men and 123 women; mean age, 68 ± 10 years) undergoing treatment between 2007 and 2011 were recruited by a Research Group (Gifu University, Hyogo College of Medicine, Aichi Medical University and Saga University) supported

by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. Liver Luminespib in vitro cirrhosis was diagnosed by clinical and laboratory profiles and by histological examination of liver biopsy specimens. The etiology of cirrhosis was hepatitis B virus in 35 patients, hepatitis C virus in 204, alcohol in 25, NASH in six and others in 24. Child–Pugh classification of the disease severity[17] was A in 154 cases, B in 91 cases and C in 49 cases. One hundred and fifty-eight patients had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and Apoptosis Compound Library datasheet their clinical stage was I in 41 patients, II in 41, III in 54 and

IV in 22. Clinical profiles of the patients are presented in Table 1. The proportion of patients supplemented with BCAA or LES rose in parallel with the increasing grade of Child–Pugh classification. Patients with fever, HIV infection, overt infectious disease (septicemia, pneumonia, urinary tract infection), renal insufficiency or under immunomodulatory therapy were excluded. The study protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. The study protocol was in agreement with the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as revised in 1983. Blood was drawn for routine laboratory examinations in the early morning after overnight fasting on the day of metabolic studies. Serum albumin, total bilirubin, alt alanine aminotransferase, prothrombin activity and urinary nitrogen (UN) were measured with a standard clinical analyzer at the central laboratory in each hospital. Metabolic studies were carried

out using an indirect calorimeter (Aeromonitor AE-300S; Minato Medical Science, Osaka, Japan) to estimate non-protein respiratory quotient (npRQ) from measured oxygen consumption/min 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 (VO2), carbon dioxide production/min (VCO2) and total urinary nitrogen using the following equation:[18-20] We measured height and bodyweight, and calculated body mass index (BMI). Health-related QOL was measured using the Short Form-8 (SF-8) questionnaire.[21-23] The SF-8 contains eight questions that provide a quantitative evaluation on each of eight subscales: (i) physical functioning (PF); (ii) role physical (RP); (iii) bodily pain (BP); (iv) general health perception (GH); (v) vitality (VT); (vi) social functioning (SF); (vii) role emotional (RE); and (viii) mental health (MH). Data were expressed as the mean and standard deviation. Comparisons of measured values among Child–Pugh classification grade A, B and C were performed using one-way anova.