Evaluation of the recovery after heart surgery following preoperative supplementation with a combination of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate, l-arginine, and l-glutamine: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial

Table 3 Comparison of the hepatic biomarkers between groups at the baseline and end of the study¹

Variable²	Gln/Arg/HMB (n = 30)	Placebo (n = 30)	P³	P-adjusted 1⁴
AST (IU/L)
Baseline	22.16 ± 4.86	20.53 ± 5.00	0.209	0.246
End of the study	40.00 ± 14.65	27.83 ± 13.54	0.002	0.008
Changes	17.83 ± 12.45	7.30 ± 13.62	0.003	0.011
P⁵	<0.001	0.006
ALT (IU/L)
Baseline	20.0 (8.0)	21.0 (9.25)	0.450*	0.960^¥
End of the study	16.0 (13.0)	19.50 (20.50)	0.278*	0.070^¥
Changes	0.0 (12.5)	-1.50 (20.50)	0.462*	0.145^¥
P⁵	0.123*	0.802*
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)
Baseline	1.20 (1.275)	0.50 (0.50)	<0.001*	<0.001^¥
End of the study	0.80 (0.55)	1.00 (0.50)	0.198*	0.061^¥
Changes	−0.40 (0.92)	0.42 (0.60)	<0.001*	<0.001^¥
P⁵	0.002*	0.001*
Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)
Baseline	0.50 (0.10)	0.50 (0.12)	0.065*	0.024^¥
End of the study	0.50 (0.20)	0.40 (0.22)	0.004*	0.165^¥
Changes	0.0 (0.30)	0.0 (0.31)	0.451*	0.965^¥
P⁵	0.301*	0.075*
Indirect bilirubin (mg/dL)
Baseline	0.70 (0.50)	0.50 (0.22)	0.003*	0.001^¥
End of the study	0.60 (0.60)	0.65 (0.50)	0.964*	0.257^¥
Changes	−0.10 (0.40)	0.20 (0.50)	0.008*	0.012^¥
P⁵	0.214*	0.007*

¹CPK creatine phosphokinase, CPK-MB creatine phosphokinase myocardial band, AST aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase
²Data are presented as mean ± SD for normally distributed continuous variables or as median (IQR) for non-normally distributed continuous variables
³Calculated using the independent sample t-test (variables that entered as logarithm form are indicated by “**”) or Mann-Whitney U-test (indicated by “*”)
⁴Calculated using ANCOVA (variables that entered as logarithm form are indicated by “**”) or non-parametric ranked ANCOVA using generalized estimation equation (indicated by “^¥”), adjusted for the effect of BMI, age, gender, and history of HTN
⁵Calculated using the paired t-test or Wilcoxon rank test (indicated by “*”)

ISSN: 1745-6215