An observational study on the effect of l-ornithine-l-aspartate (LOLA) on the gut microbiome in liver cirrhosis. A single center phase 4 study
We conducted a 12-week prospective cohort study to test the effect of the ammonia lowering drug l-ornithine-l-aspartate (LOLA) on the gut microbiome, biomarkers along the gut-liver-axis, muscle health and quality of life in patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy. Although our primary endpoint was not reached, LOLA slightly altered microbiome composition and function and improved vitality, a clinically relevant patient reported outcome parameter. LOLA also improved biomarkers for the gut-liver-axis, innate immune response and prevented muscle loss in patients with elevated ammonia levels at baseline. LOLA may therefore be a useful adjunct treatment to improve quality of life in cirrhosis and to prevent muscle loss in hyperammonemic patients.
Authors
- Vanessa Stadlbauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5508-8271)
- Hansjörg Habisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5537-506X)
- Martin Wagner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9206-1326)
- Angela Horvath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7279-0628)
- Nicole Feldbacher
- Rudolf E Stauber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3687-9331)
- Florian Rainer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8339-8821)
- Gernot Zollner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8117-6061)
- Stefan Fürst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9053-7546)
- Tobias Madl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9725-5231)
- Diego Habich
- Elisabeth Tatscher
- W Spindelböck
- Franziska Baumann‐Durchschein
- Johannes Plank
- Maximilian Nepel
- Lavra Rebol
Institutions
- Medical University of Graz (AT)
- BioTechMed-Graz (AT)
- Center For Biomarker Research In Medicine (AT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Clinical Nutrition
- Published
- 2025-11-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.11.007
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Liver Disease and Transplantation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.32