177 The Effect of Donor Race On Survival of Hepatitis C-Positive African American Liver Transplant Patients

Abstract

Twenty malignant liver tumors and 4 benign liver tumors were included. The experimental group took BCAA supplement twice a day with their usual diet for 14 days prior to surgery and continued from POD 1 until POD 7. The control group ate usual diet only. Results: Two out of 11 patients in the experimental group had postoperative morbidity, compared with 3 out of 13 patients in the control group (18.2% vs. 23.1 %, P=0.7686). Although there was no statistical difference between the BCAA and control groups in serum levels of AST, ALT, and NH3, the BCAA group had lower peak levels after surgery. Notably the serum levels of EPO were higher in the BCAA group than the control group on POD 3 (199.5±227.8 vs. 65.9±45.2 mU/m, P=0.0499), 5 (206.6±209.4 vs. 50.7±26.7 mU/m, P= 0.0140), and 7 (210.8±274.4 vs. 36.5±17.1 mU/m, P=0.0391), while no statistical difference was seen in intraoperative hemorrhage. When we tested the BCAA diet in subjects with normal liver function, the serum levels of EPO on POD 3, 5, and 7 in BCAA group were also higher than those in the control group (131.6±64.3 vs. 50.5±18.505 P=0.0174, 123.2±46.7 vs. 48.5±29.7 P=0.0141, and 109.7±65.4 vs. 31.2±14.1 P=0.0328). Conclusion: This study showed that short-term EN support with BCAA in patients undergoing curative hepatic resection was beneficial in increasing the serum EPO level, which might protect liver cells from ischemic injury and intraoperative hemorrhage in the perioperative period resulting from low AST and ALT level. This is also the first study to demonstrate the same effect of BCAA EN support in subjects with normal liver function.