Sodium pyruvate infusions in patients with alcoholic liver disease. Preliminary report

Pyruvate has been shown to benefit cellular energy metabolism and to reduce free radical formation. Concerning gastrointestinal side effects of orally administered sodium pyruvate, in this pilot study we investigated the therapeutic effectiveness of sodium pyruvate infusions in patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Fifteen patients with ALD received sodium pyruvate infusions for: (1) 10 days (54-86.4 g pyruvate daily, 150-180 mg/min., 6-8 h); and (2) 15 days (50-54 g daily, 100 mg/min., 6 h). Sodium pyruvate treatment resulted in significantly decreased serum AST (p<0.03), ALT (p<0.03), AP (p<0.004), GGT (p<0.05), and total bilirubin (p<0.04). Improvement of liver function was also evident from the significantly decreased Combined Clinical and Laboratory Index (from 6.50+/-0.71, to 3.92+/-0.84, p<0.001), and Liver Damage Score (from 3.83+/-0.71 to 2.75+/-0.58, p<0.01). The two therapy schedules used showed similar results. Unchanged serum pyruvate, lactate, and glucose confirmed the good utilization of pyruvate. Tolerance of sodium pyruvate treatment was very good in 26.09% and good in 68.94% of the observations. Our results showed good therapeutic effectiveness and good tolerance of sodium pyruvate infusions in patients with ALD. This is possibly due to the rapid gain of ATP and GTP, required to redress defective cells, and to antioxidant action of pyruvate.