Amino acids to prevent cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury: a randomized controlled trial

Background This study aimed to examine the preventive effect of amino acids on postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods This was single-center, patient- and assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Patients who underwent aortic surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were included. The intervention group received 60 g/day of amino acids for up to 3 days. The control group received standard care. The primary outcome was the incidence of AKI. We assessed the effect of amino acids on AKI using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results Sixty-six patients were randomly assigned to the control or intervention group. One patient in the control group withdrew consent after randomization. The incidence of AKI was 10 patients (30.3%) in the intervention group versus 18 patients (56.2%) in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.20–0.95; P = 0.04). Conclusions This trial demonstrated a significant reduction in AKI incidence with amino acid supplementation. Trial registration jRCT, jRCTs051210154. Registered 31 December 2021, https://jrct.niph.go.jp/re/reports/detail/69916