ALC, acetyl-L-carnitine; BCAA, branched-chain amino acid; BD, twice a day; BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; CHESS, Clinical Hepatic Encephalopathy Staging Scale; CLDQ, Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire; ECT, estimated completion time; EEG, electroencephalogram; FMT, fecal microbiota transplantation; GPB, glycerol phenylbutyrate; HESA, Hepatic Encephalopathy Scoring Algorithm; HRQOL, health-related quality of life; IV, intravenous; MED, Modified Encephalopathy Scale; MELD, Model for End-stage Liver Disease; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; NTZ, nitazoxanide; Nal, naloxone; OD, once a day; ORT, object recognition test; PEG, polyethylene glycol; QID, four times a day; QOL, quality of life; RBNS, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status; RCT, randomized control trial; RT-qPCR, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction; TID, three times a day; VSL#3, high concentration probiotic preparations; hepatic encephalopathy; liver cirrhosis; novel drugs; treatment outcome