Treatment of 47 Cases of Chronic Hepatitis B with Oxymatrine

Objective:To survey the clinical therapeutic effectiveness of oxymatrine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Methods:89 patients with chronic hepatitis B were randomly divided into two groups. 47 patients in the treatment group were given each 600 mg of oxymatrine I.M.q.d. for 3 months. 42 patients in the control group were given each 100 mg of aciclovir q.d. , administered by slow intravenous instillation. One month later, the medication was switched to an oral one: patients were given each 100 mg of aciclovir per day in 5 divided doses PO for 2 months. In the meantime, patients of both groups were subjected to conventional treatment with hepatinica. Changes in clinical symptoms and signs, liver function tests as well as serological markers of HBV in patients of both groups were kept under observation at the termination of the course of treatment. Results: The rate of amelioration in liver functions in patients of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group ( P 0.05) . The rates of sera turning negative for HbeAg were 51.1 % and 21.4% in the treatment group and control group, respectively( P 0.05) . No major adverse reactions were encountered in both groups. Conclusion: Oxymatrine was shown to have a definite therapeutic effect in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B without notable adverse reactions. Its remote effect, however, remains to be clarified by follow-up survey.