Influence of an orally administered protein mixture enriched in branched chain amino acids on the chronic hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) of patients with liver cirrhosis.

8 patients with liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) stage I and II on a protein restricted diet and partly on lactulose therapy received in alternate periods of 4 to 8 weeks a) 45 g/day of a protein mixture enriched in branched chain amino acids (BCAA-protein), b) the same amount of milk protein and c) an isocaloric carbohydrate mixture. The additional amount of protein in form of BCAA-protein was well tolerated by all the patients. Patients with and without additional lactulose therapy showed a tendency to improvement in the performance of the number connection test while on BCAA-protein, but this improvement did not reach statistical significance. The patients did not tolerate milk protein given in the same amount as BCAA-protein.