An interventional study of One meal in Cirrhosis and Hepatic Encephalopathy, sponsored by Hunter Holmes Mcguire Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-02-13.
Sponsored by Hunter Holmes Mcguire Veteran Affairs Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
Study the impact of differing meal contents on venous ammonia levels over time in patients with cirrhosis. Patients will be given specific meals and venous ammonia analyzed over time after those meals.
The subjects will also provide stool for microbiome and serum, urine and plasma for metabolomics during this one-time study.
Total duration=4 hours
Patient will be instructed to collect stool for baseline assessments. After a fast (>4h from last meal) a venous blood sample will be drawn for analysis of baseline laboratory tests and spot venous ammonia and blood and urine for metabolomics and blood microbiome. Spot ammonia and blood for metabolomics and microbiome will be collected from repeat samples at 1h and 2 hrs after a standardized meals from the three groups of protein meals. Urine will also be collected for metabolomics during the observation period. On the day of the study, patients will be asked to complete a standard food frequency questionnaire encompassing meals over 3 days prior to the study.
Subjects will be randomly assigned into 3 groups (meal types A, B and C) with the standardized meal that contains 20gm of protein. All subjects are expected to consume it in its entirety. Subjects are not allowed to eat anything else until the end of the study.
Subjects will be observed in the unit for a total of 3 hours after the standardized meal to ensure no symptoms related to potential elevated ammonia emerge. Any adverse events will be treated according to standard clinical routine.
225 studies on the registry are indexed under Hepatic Encephalopathy; 53 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 30 is below the median of 60 across 154 interventional studies indexed under Hepatic Encephalopathy.
Browse Hepatic Encephalopathy studies →Hunter Holmes Mcguire Veteran Affairs Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 31 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 2 (29%) have results posted.
Compared within Hepatic Encephalopathy, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Fibrosis. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
TIA (transient ischaemic attack)
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Meal type A: equicaloric meal as meal type B and C with differing constituents
Other: One meal
Meal type B: equicaloric meal as meal type A and C with differing constituents
Other: One meal
Meal type C: equicaloric meal as meal type B and A with differing constituents
Other: One meal
One meal given to assess impact on ammonia levels serially
Venous ammonia level
Change in these levels hourly from baseline
Time frame: 3 hours
Venous ammonia level
Change in these levels from baseline to hour 1
Time frame: 1 hour
Venous ammonia level
Change in these levels from baseline to hour 2
Time frame: 2 hours
Venous ammonia level
Change in these levels from baseline to hour 3
Time frame: 3 hours
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No
This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Hunter Holmes Mcguire Veteran Affairs Medical Center