A prospective randomized study using N-acetyl-L-cysteine for early liver toxicity after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and its conditioning with chemoradiotherapy often results in liver toxicity, the most severe form being veno-occlusive liver disease (VOD). N -acetyl- L -cysteine (NAC), an antioxidant glutathione precursor, may provide protection from liver toxicity. Patients with elevated bilirubin (>26 mmol/l) and/or elevated (ALT) (>1.4 μkat/l) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (>1.4 μkat/l) levels were randomized to treatment with NAC or no treatment. Among 522 transplanted patients, 160 were included in the trial. NAC was given, 100 mg/kg per day, as a 6-h i.v. infusion until normalization of bilirubin, ALT and AST values. Maximum bilirubin level was the same in patients randomized to NAC ( n =72) or controls ( n =88). Increase and recovery of ALT and AST were the same in patients randomized to NAC or controls. There were two patients in the NAC group who developed VOD, as compared to three of the controls. To conclude, NAC does not improve liver toxicity after ASCT.