Intravenous Branched Chain Amino Acids for Hepatic Encephalopathy in ACLF (BCAA-ACLF)

Efficacy of Lactulose Plus Intravenous Branched Chain Amino Acids Versus Lactulose Alone in Patients of Acute on Chronic Liver Failure With Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial

This study analyses the effect of intravenous branched chain amino acids (BCAA) on overt HE in patients with ACLF. The investigators plan to study the efficacy of combining intravenous BCAA with lactulose versus lactulose alone in the medical management of overt HE in patients with ACLF and its impact on overall survival and improvement in grade of HE.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Acute-On-Chronic Liver Failure; Hepatic Encephalopathy
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Branched chain amino acid; Drug: Lactulose

Detailed Description

Acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a distinct clinical entity in the spectrum of chronic liver disease associated with high short term mortality. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is commonly seen in patients with ACLF and its treatment mainly involves non-absorbable disaccharides (lactulose/lactitol).Treatment of HE in ACLF is based on extrapolation of data available from cirrhotic patients. No studies have compared different treatment options for HE in patients with ACLF.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 70
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• India
  • Chandigarh, India, 160012
    • PGIMER

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 71 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 18-75 years
2. Either gender
3. Patients with ACLF (CANONIC definition) of any aetiology with HE ≥grade 2 as per West-Haven Criteria or Hepatic encephalopathy scoring algorithm (HESA)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Those who do not consent to participate in the study
2. Patients with structural brain lesions or stroke
3. Inability to obtain informed consent from patient or relatives
4. Severe preexisting cardiopulmonary disease
5. Renal dysfunction (S. Creatinine ≥ 2mg/dL)
6. Pregnancy/Lactation
7. Post liver transplant patients
8. HIV infection
9. Patients who are on psychoactive drugs, like sedatives or antidepressants
10. Patients who are too sick to carry out the protocol

As the study was carried out during the peak of the COVID-19, patients who developed COVID-19 after randomization were excluded from the analysis as they were shifted to dedicated COVID-19 ICU's.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: IV BCAA + Lactulose; IV Branched Chain Amino Acids - 500mL once daily for 3 days plus Lactulose	Drug: Branched chain amino acid; Intravenous branched chain amino acids will be given for 3 days to patients in experimental arm; Drug: Lactulose; Oral lactulose will be given to patients in both arms
Active Comparator: Lactulose alone; Oral Lactulose alone	Drug: Lactulose; Oral lactulose will be given to patients in both arms

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Improvement of Survival	All cause Mortality assessment	At day day 28
Improvement of encephalopathy by ≥ 1 grade	Improvement in hepatic encephalopathy	72 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Reduction in level of ammonia	48 and 72 hours
Reduction of consciousness recovery time among survivors	30 days
Prolongation of time to death among non-survivors	30 days
Prevention/reduction of cerebral edema based on optic nerve sheath diameter	72 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Madhumita Premkumar, MD, DM, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Shawcross DL, Sharifi Y, Canavan JB, Yeoman AD, Abeles RD, Taylor NJ, Auzinger G, Bernal W, Wendon JA. Infection and systemic inflammation, not ammonia, are associated with Grade 3/4 hepatic encephalopathy, but not mortality in cirrhosis. J Hepatol. 2011 Apr;54(4):640-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2010.07.045. Epub 2010 Dec 1.
• Donovan JP, Schafer DF, Shaw BW Jr, Sorrell MF. Cerebral oedema and increased intracranial pressure in chronic liver disease. Lancet. 1998 Mar 7;351(9104):719-21. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)07373-X.
• Albrecht J, Norenberg MD. Glutamine: a Trojan horse in ammonia neurotoxicity. Hepatology. 2006 Oct;44(4):788-94. doi: 10.1002/hep.21357.
• Norenberg MD, Martinez-Hernandez A. Fine structural localization of glutamine synthetase in astrocytes of rat brain. Brain Res. 1979 Feb 2;161(2):303-10. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(79)90071-4.
• Albrecht J, Dolinska M, Hilgier W, Lipkowski AW, Nowacki J. Modulation of glutamine uptake and phosphate-activated glutaminase activity in rat brain mitochondria by amino acids and their synthetic analogues. Neurochem Int. 2000 Apr;36(4-5):341-7. doi: 10.1016/s0197-0186(99)00142-4.
• Laake JH, Takumi Y, Eidet J, Torgner IA, Roberg B, Kvamme E, Ottersen OP. Postembedding immunogold labelling reveals subcellular localization and pathway-specific enrichment of phosphate activated glutaminase in rat cerebellum. Neuroscience. 1999;88(4):1137-51. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4522(98)00298-x.
• Cordoba J, Ventura-Cots M, Simon-Talero M, Amoros A, Pavesi M, Vilstrup H, Angeli P, Domenicali M, Gines P, Bernardi M, Arroyo V; CANONIC Study Investigators of EASL-CLIF Consortium. Characteristics, risk factors, and mortality of cirrhotic patients hospitalized for hepatic encephalopathy with and without acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). J Hepatol. 2014 Feb;60(2):275-81. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2013.10.004. Epub 2013 Oct 12.
• Fischer JE, Rosen HM, Ebeid AM, James JH, Keane JM, Soeters PB. The effect of normalization of plasma amino acids on hepatic encephalopathy in man. Surgery. 1976 Jul;80(1):77-91.
• Dam G, Aamann L, Vistrup H, Gluud LL. The role of Branched Chain Amino Acids in the treatment of hepatic Encephalopathy. J Clin Exp Hepatol. 2018 Dec;8(4):448-451. doi: 10.1016/j.jceh.2018.06.004. Epub 2018 Jun 27.
• Rossi-Fanelli F, Riggio O, Cangiano C, Cascino A, De Conciliis D, Merli M, Stortoni M, Giunchi G. Branched-chain amino acids vs lactulose in the treatment of hepatic coma: a controlled study. Dig Dis Sci. 1982 Oct;27(10):929-35. doi: 10.1007/BF01316578.
• Gluud LL, Dam G, Les I, Cordoba J, Marchesini G, Borre M, Aagaard NK, Vilstrup H. Branched-chain amino acids for people with hepatic encephalopathy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Feb 25;(2):CD001939. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001939.pub2.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): December 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 28, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 22, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): January 23, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 16, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 14, 2022
• Last Verified: August 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: hepatic encephalopathy; bispectral index; acute on chronic liver failure; lactulose; branched chain amino acids
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Metabolic Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Liver Diseases; Liver Failure, Acute; Brain Diseases, Metabolic; End Stage Liver Disease; Liver Failure; Hepatic Insufficiency; Acute-On-Chronic Liver Failure; Hepatic Encephalopathy; Brain Diseases; Gastrointestinal Agents; Lactulose
• Other Study ID Numbers: IEC-08/2019-1336

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No