Little progress has been made in the pharmacological management of patients with hepatic encephalopathy, partly because it is difficult to perform clinical trials in this group of patients. A new clinical trial now suggests that polyethylene glycol is more effective than the current standard first-line therapy in these patients.
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R.J. declares that he has been a consultant for Conatus Pharmaceuticals and Ocera Therapeutics Inc. He has collaborated on research with funding from research grants from Gambro, Grifols Inc., Norgine, Sequana Medical and Ocera Therapeutics. He has received speaker fees from Grifols Inc. and Norgine. He is the inventor of Ornithine Phenylacetate, which is licensed by UCL to Ocera Therapeutics. R.S. declares no competing interests.
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Sawhney, R., Jalan, R. The gut is a key target of therapy in hepatic encephalopathy. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 12, 7–8 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.185
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.185
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