Abstract
Purpose of Review: Frailty in end-stage liver disease is a risk factor for mortality and other serious complications for transplant-waitlist patients. Multiple interventions have been studied to try to mitigate these effects by targeting contributors to frailty, most notably sarcopenia and hepatic encephalopathy. This review provides an evidence-based summary of interventions that have been recommended to prevent or reverse frailty and its contributors. Recent Findings: Current nutritional recommendations for frailty in end-stage liver disease focus on mitigating the effects of ammonia toxicity, increased energy expenditure due to shifts in glucose metabolism, and micronutrient deficiency and supplementation. Summary: Data regarding targeted nutritional interventions for frailty in cirrhosis are limited. Current evidence supports increasing caloric intake, increasing protein intake, avoiding a fasting state, branched-chain amino acid supplementation, screening for and treating vitamin D deficiency, and to a lesser extent l-carnitine supplementation. Future randomized controlled trials are necessary to validate these interventions as modifiers of frailty.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 23-29 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Current Hepatitis Reports |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2020 |
Keywords
- Cirrhosis
- Nutrition
- Sarcopenia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hepatology