Table 1.

Comparison of clinical parameters between patients with and without HE

	Cirrhosis without HE (n = 24)	Cirrhosis with HE (n = 36)
Age	54 ± 6	56 ± 4
Sex (male/female)	20/4	30/6
Body mass index	28.9 ± 4.4	29.0 ± 6.7
Ascites, % patients	2	16
Child-Turcotte-Pugh score	6 ± 4	9 ± 5*
MELD score	10.4 ± 4.1	17.3 ± 6.8*
Venous ammonia	32.8 ± 12.6	48.8 ± 27.5*
IL-1β, pg/ml	14.3 ± 58.7	6.2 ± 12.1
IL-2, pg/ml	15.0 ± 62.3	24.4 ± 68.6
Interferon-γ, pg/ml	10.1 ± 33.1	15.9 ± 54.5
TNF-α, pg/ml	13.9 ± 43.2	7.4 ± 8.2
IL-4, pg/ml	16.3 ± 55.5	25.3 ± 94.5
IL-6, pg/ml	12.2 ± 32.5	40.6 ± 63.3*
IL-10, pg/ml	10.4 ± 28.3	4.88 ± 5.89
ADMA, μm/ml	0.38 ± 0.13	0.558 ± 0.20*
S100b protein, pg/ml	34.7 ± 27.4	57.1 ± 49.4*
Endotoxin, EU/ml	0.06 ± 0.01	0.32 ± 0.26*
Neuron-specific enolase, pg/ml	7,461 ± 4,288	6,793 ± 3,424
IL-23, pg/ml	519 ± 1,137	1,130 ± 3,289
IL-17, pg/ml	5.9 ± 16.9	17.8 ± 60.4
sVCAM-1, pg/ml	1,488,817 ± 664,793	1,683,186 ± 794,252
sICAM-1, pg/ml	319,844 ± 268,066	304,680 ± 214,037
Number connection-A, s	35.0 ± 14.7	60.3 ± 41.4*
Number connection-B, s	95.9 ± 49.2	170 ± 123*
Digit symbol, raw score	57.7 ± 12.0	37.4 ± 15.8*
Block design, raw score	30.1 ± 14.9	18.7 ± 16.7*
Lures, number incorrect	10.5 ± 7.7	16.4 ± 10.3*
Targets, % correct	95.3 ± 8.7	88.1 ± 13.7*
Serial dotting, s	64.6 ± 18.7	89.3 ± 34.9*
Line tracing time, s	95.0 ± 37.7	122.5 ± 56.9*
Line tracing errors, number	28.2 ± 20.4	54.0 ± 39.1*

Values are means ± SD,

^*P < 0.05. As expected, patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) have a worse model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score andcognitive performance and higher venous ammonia, endotoxin, IL-6, asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA), and S100b protein compared with patients without HE. A high score in Digit symbol, Block design, and Targets indicates good cognitive performance whereas a high score in the remaining cognitive tests suggests poor performance. sICAM-1, soluble intravascular adhesion molecule; sVCAM-1, soluble vascular adhesion molecule.