Exploratory Study on the Effects of Treatment with Two Mistletoe Preparations on Chronic Hepatitis C

Autor: Karel Jan Tusenius, Jan van Hattum, Anne Marie Spoek
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Arzneimittelforschung. 55:749-753
ISSN: 1616-7066
0004-4172
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1296925
Popis: Twenty-one patients with chronic hepatitis C were treated with a mistletoe preparation as monotherapy (either Iscador or Abnoba viscum) during one year. The treatment was well tolerated. Patients entering the study with elevated transaminases had a significant improvement, both for AST (aspartate aminotransferase) (p = 0.01) and for ALT (alanine aminotransferase) (p = 0.04). Quality of life significantly improved (p = 0.006) in patients with a low initial quality of life. Although one patient obtained a complete virological response, few effects on viral load were seen in the whole group. These results suggest an effect comparable to glycyrrhicin treatment: improvement of liver inflammation and thus possibly reduction of the long term complications, viz cirrhosis and liver cancer. Mistletoe preparations have the advantage of easy administration and low cost.
Databáze: OpenAIRE