Can a simple supplement help COVID-19 patients with liver disease?
NCT ID NCT04858412
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether an HMB-enriched amino acid supplement can reverse muscle loss and improve recovery in 48 patients with alcoholic liver disease and COVID-19 pneumonia. Participants receive either the HMB supplement or a balanced amino acid mix for 90 days. Researchers will measure changes in muscle mass and track hospital admissions.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- HMB-enriched amino acid supplement
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a simple dietary supplement to help prevent muscle loss and reduce hospital stays in patients with alcoholic liver disease and COVID-19.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study with only 48 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The supplement may not significantly improve muscle mass or clinical outcomes.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 48 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2021
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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21 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: A. Cases: Patients with ALD and COVID-19 pneumonia: 1. Clinical, imaging, laboratory, and/or histological diagnosis of alcoholic cirrhosis and/or alcoholic hepatitis 2. Child Pugh score 5-8, serum creatinine \<3, Model for End Stage Liver Disease score (MELD) \<25 3. Diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia as defined by the WHO criteria: confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by PCR, evidence of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiograph (CXR) or computed tomography (CT) and SpO2 \<93% or on oxygen supplement 4. Age of 21 years or older B. Controls: Patients without alcoholic liver disease (Non-ALD) and COVID-19 pneumonia: 1. Diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia as defined by the WHO criteria: confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by PCR, evidence of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiograph (CXR) or computed tomography (CT) and SpO2 \<93% or on oxygen supplement 2. Age of 21 years or older Exclusion Criteria: (Both Cases and Controls) 1. Patients requiring active ventilator support 2. Anticoagulant/antiplatelet therapy (for those in the biopsy arm, see Randomization schema. If clinically feasible, patients will be asked to hold their anticoagulants for the muscle biopsy after physician review), 3. Recent gastrointestinal bleeding (\<3 months) 4. Advanced organ diseases: congestive heart failure (NYHA class 3 and 4), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (GOLD stage 3 and 4), chronic kidney disease (Cr\>3), metastatic malignancy 5. Medications that alter muscle protein metabolism except systemic corticosteroids 6. Pregnancy 7. Unwillingness/ Inability to sign informed consent
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Cleveland Clinic Foundation
RECRUITINGCleveland, Ohio, 44195, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Simple breathing and walking exercises may speed lung recovery after COVID-19 pneumonia
- Scientists probe Gut-Liver link in alcohol and fatty liver cancers
- Can a smartphone app heal the hidden wounds of the ICU?
- Ultrasound peek at lungs after COVID: small study, big questions