Relationship between glucose metabolism and hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Objective To observe the changes in blood glucose in patients with liver cirrhosis and investigate the relationship between glu-cose metabolism and hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Methods Sixty patients with liver cirrhosis (cirrhosis group) and 30 patients without liver cirhosis ( control group ), who were hospitalized in Department of Gastroenterology, Jiading District Central Hospital from August 2008 to August 2010, were included in the study. The general data were collected ; the consciousness of patients was observed ; the physical exam-ination was performed for detecting flapping tremors ; blood samples were collected for measuring blood glucose. The cirhosis group was fur-ther divided into flapping tremor subgroup and non - flapping tremor subgroup. The cirrhosis group and control group were compared in terms of the incidence rate of abnormal glucose metabolism. The patients were divided into normal glucose metabolism group and abnormal glucose metabolism group, and the two groups were compared in terms of the incidence rates of flapping tremors and HE. Results Of the 60 pa-tients in cirrhosis group, 28 had no flapping tremors, and 32 had flapping tremors. The incidence rate of abnormal glucose metabolism was significantly lower in the control group than in the cirrhosis group ( 13. 33% vs 26. 67% ; ?² =2. 058, ? < 0. 05 ). The incidence rates of flapping tremors and HE were 50. 00% and 34. 09% in the normal glucose metabolism group, versus 62. 50% and 37. 50% in the abnormal glucose metabolism group (?>0. 05). Conclusion The patients with liver cirrhosis have abnormal glucose metabolism, but which is not necessarily associated with HE. It suggests that the patients with HE may have impaired glucose utilization in the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]