Abstract

Background: Cirrhosis is the irreversible sequel of various disorders that damage liver cells permanently over time. Presently, the use of herbal medicines for prevention and control of chronic liver diseases is in the focus of attention for both the physicians and the patients; the reason for such shift toward the use of herbals include the expensive cost of conventional drugs, adverse drug reactions, and their inefficacy. Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of herbal medicine Khar maryam or silymarin on liver cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis patients compare to placebo therapy. Method: 60 chronic hepatitis B cirrhotic patients were selected out of 500 patients referred to Tehran Hepatic Center. The patients were randomly divided in two groups of 30 patients. One group received silymarin 150mg/kg three times a day and the other group placebo received for twelve months. The outcome measures included child-pugh score, ascitis, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total billirubin, albumin, prothrombin time, platelet and white blood cells counts. The indices were recorded in all patients before and after 12 months of drug or placebo treatment. Results: The results demonstrated that the patients treated with silymarin for 12 months had significantly better child-pugh score, decreased ascitis, decreased serum AST and ALT. In placebo administered patients all the clinical parameters recorded before and after 12 months were not significantly different. Conclusion: We conclude that silymarin treatment for 12 months in cirrhotic patients has hepatoprotective effect. To investigate the effects of this herbal remedy on the mortality rate of cirrhotic ratients, a similar study, over an extended period has to carried out.