Body cell mass (BCM) is a nutritional parameter, however, changes in BCM in patients with non-ascitic liver cirrhosis (LC) in comparison to patients with other malnutritional diseases remains unclear. We investigated the difference in BCM between patients with LC and malnourished gastrointestinal disease controls (M.CON), and examined the relationship between BCM and the severity of LC. Results demonstrated that serum nutritional parameters were not significantly different between the LC (n=56) and M.CON groups (n=25), whereas BCM%BW was significantly lower in the LC group than in the M.CON group (50.9+/-4.6 vs. 54.4+/-7.1%, P=0.018). Furthermore, BCM%BW negatively correlated with the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score (P=0.04). In concluson, BCM showed a significant decrease and a negative correlation with the MELD score in the LC group. BCM may be a useful parameter for assessing malnutrition and severity of LC.