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Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a serious complication of cirrhosis and is marked by systemic hyperammonemia. Glutamine deamidation by intestinal glutaminase enzyme is believed to contribute to excess ammonia production in cirrhotic patients. Because the glutaminase gene influences this enzymatic activity, it might play a role in the development of overt HE.
To investigate a possible genetic association with overt HE, researchers in Spain followed 286 cirrhotic patients (mean age, 56; 70% men), who were divided into estimation and validation cohorts (109 and 177 consecutive patients, respectively) and compared with 107 healthy controls. Patients were monitored every 3 or 6 months (mean follow-up, 29.6 months) for development of overt HE, defi…