An Oral Formulation of the Probiotic, Bacillus subtilis HU58, Was Safe and Well Tolerated in a Pilot Study of Patients with Hepatic Encephalopathy

Table 1

Baseline patient characteristics.

	Placebo, N = 11	Probiotic, N = 29
Sex^a,b
Male	5 (50)	16 (59)
Female	5 (50)	11 (41)
Race/ethnicity^a,b
Caucasian	10 (100)	25 (73)
African American	0 (0)	2 (7)
Age, years^a,b	62.9 ± 9.2	65.6 ± 11.4
Body weight, kg^a,b	98.3 ± 19.7	89.4 ± 25.2
BMI, kg/m^2a,b	35.1 ± 9.0	32.6 ± 10.1
Ammonia level^c,d, μg/dL	54.4 ± 30.3	67.0 ± 44.7
≤60	39.6 ± 15.6 (n = 8)	36.4 ± 13.5 (n = 14)
>60	103.5 ± 6.4 (n = 2)	97.6 ± 44.1 (n = 14)

Values are presented as n (%) or mean ± standard deviation. ^aDemographic data missing for 1 patient in the placebo group. ^bDemographic data missing for 2 patients in the probiotic group. ^cAmmonia data missing for 1 patient in the placebo group. ^dAmmonia data missing for 1 patient in the probiotic group. BMI: body mass index.