EFFECT OF A MEDIUM DOSE OF URSODEOXYCHOLIC ACID WITH OR WITHOUT TAURINE SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE NUTRITIONAL-STATUS OF PATIENTS WITH CYSTIC-FIBROSIS - A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, CROSSOVER TRIAL
M. Merli et al., EFFECT OF A MEDIUM DOSE OF URSODEOXYCHOLIC ACID WITH OR WITHOUT TAURINE SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE NUTRITIONAL-STATUS OF PATIENTS WITH CYSTIC-FIBROSIS - A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, CROSSOVER TRIAL, Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, 19(2), 1994, pp. 198-203
Ursodeoxycholic acid administration has been reported to improve chole
stasis and inflammatory activity in primary biliary cirrhosis and, in
an uncontrolled study, also in young adults with cystic fibrosis (CF)
and chronic cholestasis. As an improvement in nutritional status was a
lso observed in these young adult patients, we investigated whether th
e administration of a medium dose of ursodeoxycholic acid ameliorates
the nutritional status of malnourished young adult CF patients with ch
ronic liver disease. The study included 51 patients (27 male patients
and 24 female patients; age range, 8-32 years; median, 14) with body m
ass percentiles <90%. Patients were randomly assigned to receive eithe
r ursodeoxycholic acid (10-12 mg/kg/day) alone or with taurine (18-22
mg/kg/day). Patients were followed in a crossover fashion within each
group; 6 months of treatment was randomly alternated with 6 months of
placebo. Nine patients dropped out before concluding the study. Liver
function tests, nutritional status, and coefficients of fat absorption
were determined at entry and after each 6 months of placebo or treatm
ent. Nutritional status and fat absorption were not significantly modi
fied by either treatment. Liver function tests improved after ursodeox
ycholic acid administration only in patients with concomitant chronic
liver disease. Our findings indicate that 6 months of therapy with a m
edium dose of ursodeoxycholic acid, either alone or with taurine, does
not improve the nutritional status of young malnourished CF patients.
Higher given for longer periods might be worth investigating.