Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of the patients.

	Antioxidants/zinc group (A) (N = 31)	Lactulose group (B) (N= 27)	p value
Sex (M⁄F)	16/14	15/12	0.92
Age (years)	54.5 ± 9.6	55.8 ± 9.2	0.6
Etiology of liver disease
HCV related	28	24	0.63
HBV related	2	3	0.94
Cryptogenic	1	2	0.95
Child–Pugh score (N): A/B/C	6⁄22⁄3	4⁄20⁄3	0.88
Arterial ammonia (µmol/liter)	65.1 ± 26.1	67.8 ± 25.5	0.69
ALT (U/liter)	69.6 ± 20.5	68.4 ± 18.2	0.82
AST (U/liter)	76.5 ± 22.7	67.56 ± 19.5	0.11
Albumin (g/dl)	3.45 ± 0.42	3.5 ± 0.44	0.59
Bilirubin (mg⁄dl)	1.38 ± 0.42	1.4 ± 0.42	0.89
Zinc (µg/dl)	49.6 ± 11.2	46.9 ± 10.5	0.34

ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate transaminase; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus.