Dietary protein sources and disease severity, malnutrition and anthropometric measurements in cirrhotic patients

Aim: To evaluate the association between dietary protein sources with disease severity, malnutrition and anthropometric measurements in cirrhotic patients. Background: Although the beneficial effects of protein and some amino-acids have been shown previously, no study has evaluated the effects of different dietary sources of proteins in patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, dietary intakes of patients with hepatic cirrhosis were assessed using a valid and reliable food frequency questionnaire. The association between different dietary sources of proteins and nutritional status, anthropometric measurements, and disease severity were evaluated. Results: Muscle strength (MS) increased significantly in highest tertile of dairy and vegetable protein sources compared with the lowest one (p=0.045). Dietary dairy and vegetable protein intakes had a positive significant correlation with body weight, MS, visceral fat percentage (VFP), and triceps skin-fold thickness (TST), and negative significant correlation with malnutrition stage. Conclusion: Our results indicate that consumption of proteins from dairy and vegetable sources is associated with improvement in nutritional and anthropometric status of patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these results.