TEL AVIV, Israel—Consuming breakfast could improve some measures of cognitive function in cirrhotic patients, according to a new study (Am J Clin Nutr. ePub 5 May 2010; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29211). Researchers from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center investigated the effect on cognition of acute metabolic changes induced by breakfast consumption in 21 subjects with child A cirrhosis and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Patients and controls received either no breakfast or a breakfast of 500 kcal and 21 g protein. Serum ammonia concentrations and cognitive functions were studied before and two hours after breakfast.
Patients with cirrhosis had significantly lower total scores and significantly lower subscores in four of seven cognitive categories, indicative of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE), a prevalent neurocognitive complication of cirrhosis. Patients with hyperammonemia scored significantly lower for attention than patients with normal serum ammonia concentrations. Two hours after breakfast, the attention and executive function scores of cirrhotic patients were improved, despite an increase in serum ammonia; however, healthy controls who continued to fast performed better.
