Assessment of Risk of Acidosis in Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Chronic Kidney Disease Treated with Intravenous Branched-Chain Amino Acid-Enriched Solution: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Abstract

Intravenous administration of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)-enriched solution is contraindicated in patients with severe chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, there have been no reports on its risks in patients with mild-to-moderate CKD. In this study, we compared the incidence of acidosis between patients with mild-to-moderate CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≥30 and <60 mL/min/1.73 m²) and patients without CKD (eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m²) who received intravenous BCAA-enriched solution after propensity score matching (PSM). A retrospective analysis of the medical records at Hiroshima University Hospital identified 608 patients who were treated with intravenous BCAA-enriched solutions between January 2005 and December 2010. The laboratory data for these patients were analyzed. After PSM, the incidence of acidosis was compared between 91 pairs of patients with mild-to-moderate CKD or no CKD using Fisher’s exact test. The incidence of acidosis was significantly higher in the mild-to-moderate CKD group than in the non-CKD group (36.3 vs. 18.7%, p <0.05). The odds ratio for the incidence of acidosis in patients with mild-to-moderate CKD was 2.48 (95% confidence interval 1.26–4.88). Kaplan–Meier curves showed that the cumulative incidence of acidosis increased soon after initiation of intravenous BCAA-enriched solution in both groups. In conclusion, intravenous BCAA-enriched solution can cause acidosis even in patients without CKD, with an increased risk in patients with mild-to-moderate CKD, in whom this agent is not contraindicated. Therefore, intravenous BCAA-enriched solution should be administered with caution in patients with CKD, regardless of its severity.