Aminoacid therapy of alcoholic hepatitis

35 consecutive patients with alcoholic hepatitis were randomly allocated to control (18 patients) and study (17 patients) groups. All patients were offered a 3000 kcal 100 g protein diet and were studied for 28 days. The study group received 70-85 g of intravenous aminoacids daily in the form of 'Aminosyn' or 'Travasol'. Both groups had similar clinical and biochemical features at the time of randomisation. Ascites and encephalopathy tended to improve more in the study group. Serum concentrations of bilirubin (p < 0.01) and albumin (p < 0.025) improved in the study but not in the control group. 4 patients died in the control group, but none died in the study group. Intravenous therapy with aminoacid for 4 weeks seemed to be associated with lower mortality rate (p < 0.02) and improved serum bilirubin and albumin concentrations in patients with alcoholic hepatitis.