Taste evaluation of branched-Chain amino acids supplementationfor improving adherence of cirrhotic patients
International Journal of Development Research
Taste evaluation of branched-Chain amino acids supplementationfor improving adherence of cirrhotic patients
Received 17th February, 2018; Received in revised form; 24th March, 2018; Accepted 14th April, 2018; Published online 28th May, 2018
Copyright © 2018, Toru Ishikawa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Background/Aims: Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) are valuable in the treatment of liver cirrhosis because they increase serum albumin levels. However, poor adherence to BCAA may adversely affect prognosis. One cause of poor adherence is the problem of BCAA taste. We undertook a BCAA taste of questionnaire survey among cirrhotic patients. Materials and Methods: The patients taking BCAA granules or unflavored jelly, and jelly with 10 different flavors for elemental diet added (total of 12 preparations), evaluated their flavor on a 5-point scale. Results: BCAA unflavored jelly was rated lower than BCAA granules. The green apple-, pineapple-, grapefruit-, light Japanese plum-, orange-, yogurt-, and coffee-flavored jellies were rated significantly higher than the unflavored jelly. BCAA jelly added a flavor was rated higher than BCAA granules. Conclusion: While evaluating the taste of each patient, it is necessary to improve adherence and guide it to proper internal dosing.
