Rifaximin-α use is associated with improved muscle mass in patients with cirrhosis

Table 1 Descriptive variables

Characteristic	Overall, n = 1421	Lactulose alone, n = 791	Rifaximin-α-α, n = 631	P value2
Follow-up skeletal muscle area (cm2)	160 (137, 178)	159 (137, 174)	162 (134, 190)	0.3
Baseline skeletal muscle area (cm2)	159 (139, 179)	158 (145, 177)	160 (131, 186)	> 0.9
Gender				0.050
Female	38 (27)	16 (20)	22 (35)
Male	104 (73)	63 (80)	41 (65)
Age (years)	56 (51, 61)	55 (51, 60)	57 (51, 62)	0.4
Viral hepatitis	71 (50)	44 (56)	27 (44)	0.2
Alcohol	46 (33)	33 (42)	13 (21)	0.009
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease	25 (18)	15 (19)	10 (16)	0.7
Other	37 (26)	15 (19)	22 (35)	0.027
HCV eradication occurred during follow up				0.3
No	138 (97)	78 (99)	60 (95)
Yes	4 (2.8)	1 (1.3)	3 (4.8)
Hepatocellular carcinoma				> 0.9
No	75 (53)	42 (53)	33 (53)
Yes	66 (47)	37 (47)	29 (47)
MELD score	16 (12, 19)	15 (12, 18)	16 (13, 19)	0.3
Ascites				> 0.9
None	44 (31)	24 (30)	20 (33)
Diuretic-controlled	39 (28)	23 (29)	16 (26)
Paracentesis	57 (41)	32 (41)	25 (41)
Charlson co-morbidity score	5.00 (4.00, 6.00)	5.00 (4.00, 6.00)	5.00 (4.00, 6.00)	0.3
Baseline height (cm)	173 (166, 178)	173 (166, 179)	172 (165, 178)	0.5
Baseline weight (kg)	81 (72, 92)	84 (73, 94)	80 (70, 90)	0.2
Baseline BMI (kg/m2)	27.8 (24.1, 31.1)	28.0 (24.2, 30.9)	26.8 (24.0, 31.2)	0.8
Testosterone therapy during follow up				> 0.9
No	118 (94)	71 (93)	47 (94)
Yes	8 (6.3)	5 (6.6)	3 (6.0)
Duration of therapy before follow up SMA (days)	161 (101, 267)	150 (87, 227)	179 (111, 301)	0.3
Days between scans	218 (172, 296)	227 (173, 343)	216 (174, 271)	0.5

¹Median (IQR) or n (%).

²Wilcoxon rank sum test; Pearson’s χ² test; Fisher’s exact test.

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; MELD: Model of end-stage liver disease; BMI: Body mass index; SMA: Skeletal muscle area.

Table 2 Regression modelling: Univariate regression

Characteristic	n	95%CI	P value
Gender	142
Female		-
Male		26, 49	< 0.001
Age (years)	142	-0.72, 0.73	> 0.9
Treatment	142
Lactulose alone		-
Rifaximin-α		-3.4, 20	0.2
Viral hepatitis	141	-5.0, 18	0.3
Alcohol	141	-3.9, 21	0.2
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease	141	-18, 13	0.8
Other	141	-17, 9.7	0.6
HCV eradication occurred during follow up	142
No		-
Yes		-19, 52	0.4
Hepatocellular carcinoma	141
No		-
Yes		1.8, 25	0.024
MELD score	141	-1.5, 0.69	0.5
Ascites	140
None		-
Diuretic-controlled		-14, 17	0.8
Paracentesis		-20, 8.5	0.4
Charlson co-morbidity score	141	-2.2, 4.9	0.4
Baseline BMI (kg/sq m)	132	0.55, 2.1	0.001
Baseline subjective global assessment	16
A		-
B		-55, 25	0.4
C		-78, 39	0.5
Testosterone therapy during follow up	126
No		-
Yes		-9.5, 40	0.2
Duration of rifaximin-α before follow up SMI (days)	64	-0.05, 0.12	0.4
Days between scans	142	-0.06, 0.03	0.6

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; MELD: Model of end-stage liver disease; BMI: Body mass index; SMI: Skeletal muscle index.

Table 3 Regression modelling: Multivariate regression

Characteristic	95%CI	P value
Male gender	-4.2, 23	0.2
Age (years)	-0.38, 0.55	0.7
Treatment with rifaximin-α	0.95, 17	0.029
Aetiology: Alcohol	-3.7, 13	0.3
Hepatocellular carcinoma	-8.7, 8.2	> 0.9
MELD score	-1.0, 0.78	0.8
Baseline height (cm)	-2.5, 2.2	> 0.9
Baseline weight (kg)	-2.2, 2.6	0.9
Baseline BMI (kg/sq m)	-7.0, 7.4	> 0.9
Testosterone therapy during follow up	-1.6, 29	0.078

MELD: Model of end-stage liver disease; BMI: Body mass index.

Table 4 Outcomes

Characteristic	Lactulose alone, n = 791	Rifaximin-α, n = 631	P value2
Transplant outcome			0.070
Delisted	15 (19)	4 (6.9)
Rejected	0 (0)	1 (1.7)
Died on list	5 (6.5)	2 (3.4)
Transplanted	57 (74)	51 (88)
Unknown	2	5

¹n (%).

²Fisher’s exact test.