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©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2014; 20(23): 7298-7305
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7298
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7298
Impairment of innate immune responses in cirrhotic patients and treatment by branched-chain amino acids
Ikuo Nakamura, Department of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan
Ikuo Nakamura, Department of Gastroenterology, Saitama Medical Center, Jichi Medical University, Saitama 330-8503, Japan
Author contributions: Nakamura I solely contributed to this paper.
Supported by Grants (in part) from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan
Correspondence to: Ikuo Nakamura, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan. ikuonaka@tokyo-med.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-3-33426111 Fax: +81-3-53816654
Received: October 27, 2013
Revised: December 19, 2013
Accepted: April 30, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Processing time: 236 Days and 22.4 Hours
Revised: December 19, 2013
Accepted: April 30, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Processing time: 236 Days and 22.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: This review will discuss the recent research on impairment of innate immune responses in cirrhotic patients and the treatment by branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). It was revealed that BCAA oral supplementation could improve not only nutrition status but phagocytic function of neutrophils and natural killer activity of lymphocytes in cirrhotic patients. Therefore, BCAA supplementation might reduce the risk of bacterial and viral infection in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Additionally, it was also revealed that BCAA oral supplementation could reduce the risk of development of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients. The mechanisms of the effects of BCAA described above will also be discussed.