Table 2.

Summary of studies on BCAA supplementation in patients with cirrhosis.

Study	Study Design	Sample Size and Included Patients	Results
Gluud et al. [86]	Meta-analysis	16 randomized controlled trials including 827 patients with cirrhosis	No benefit of BCAA in decreasing mortality. BCAA did not provide any additional benefit on HE in patients already on lactulose or neomycin, but found to be beneficial in patients on no pharmacological therapy
Les et al. [84]	Multicenter randomized double-blind study	116 patients with cirrhosis treated with either BCAA or maltodextrin for 56 weeks	Patients in BCAA group had improvement in symptoms of minimal HE and muscle mass
Muto et al [85]	Multicenter, randomized controlled trial	646 patients with decompensated cirrhosis	The incidence of primary end point significantly decreased in the BCAA group. The primary end point was a composite of death by any cause, development of liver cancer, rupture of esophageal varices, or progress of hepatic failure (event-free survival)
Horst et al. [83]	Randomized study	37 hospitalized protein-intolerant patients	BCAA administration achieved positive nitrogen balance without worsening symptoms of HE
Marchesini et al. [75]	Randomized double-blind study	64 patients with cirrhosis and chronic HE	Patients who received BCAA showed significant improvement in mental status as compared to those who received casein