Comparison of measured and predicted energy expenditure in patients with liver cirrhosis

Obesity is a risk factor for the onset of liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis. To prevent overfeeding and obesity, estimation of energy requirement is important, but energy expenditure in patients with liver cirrhosis has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate resting energy expenditure (REE) and energy intake in patients with cirrhosis and determine adequate energy intake criteria. In this cross-sectional study, indirect calorimetry measurement was conducted in 488 Japanese inpatients with cirrhosis. We compared REE measured by indirect calorimetry (M-REE) with basal energy expenditure (BEE) predicted by the Harris-Benedict equation (H-BEE) and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for Japanese (D-BEE). Mean M-REE (1256 kcal) was significantly lower than H-BEE (1279 kcal); however, it was not significantly different from D-BEE (1254 kcal). Mean M-REE expressed in relation to body weight (BW; REE/kg BW) was 21.7 kcal/kg BW. H-BEE was significantly higher than M-REE in patients in the first and second quartiles of BMI, and D-BEE was significantly different from MREE in patients in the highest and lowest quartiles of BMI. Average energy intake was 30.5 kcal/kg BW, which was 1.4 times greater than REE/kg BW. Although DRI is a useful tool for the estimation of REE in patients in the second and third quartiles of BMI, M-REE is recommended to ensure the provision of adequate nutritional care to patients with cirrhosis, including those in the highest and lowest quartiles of BMI.