Study of HMB-enriched Amino Acid Supplementation in Patients With Alcoholic Liver Disease and COVID-19

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age21+
SponsorThe Cleveland Clinic

About this trial

Patients with COVID-19 and comorbidities including alcohol associated liver disease (ALD) are at risk for severe illness and abrupt or sudden clinical deterioration with ventilatory failure. â-hydroxy â-methyl butyrate (HMB), a non-nitrogenous leucine metabolite with anabolic properties, increases muscle mass and contractile function and enhances immune function. We aim to study the natural course of COVID-19 in patients with ALD and test whether HMB can affect ventilatory deterioration and improve short and long-term morbidity, mortality, and recovery from critical illness in symptomatic COVID-19 patients with ALD.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

Clinical, imaging, laboratory, and/or histological diagnosis of alcoholic cirrhosis and/or alcoholic hepatitis

Child Pugh score 5-8, serum creatinine <3, Model for End Stage Liver Disease score (MELD) <25

Diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia as defined by the WHO criteria: confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by PCR, evidence of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiograph (CXR) or computed tomography (CT) and SpO2 <93% or on oxygen supplement

Age of 21 years or older

Disqualifiers

Patients requiring active ventilator support

Anticoagulant/antiplatelet therapy (for those in the biopsy arm, see Randomization schema. If clinically feasible, patients will be asked to hold their anticoagulants for the muscle biopsy after physician review),

Recent gastrointestinal bleeding (<3 months)

Advanced organ diseases: congestive heart failure (NYHA class 3 and 4), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (GOLD stage 3 and 4), chronic kidney disease (Cr>3), metastatic malignancy

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • β-hydroxy β-methyl butyrate (HMB) enriched amino acid
  • Balanced amino acid

Treatment groups

48 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups

Sponsors and collaborators