Efficacy of Matrine in the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the efficacy of Matrine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis.Methods One hundred and twenty patients with chronic hepatitis B were randomly divided into Matrine group ( n = 60) and control group ( n = 60) .The patients of Matrine group were given with injection Matrine of100mg daily intramuscularly for 90 days besides conventional liver - protective drugs including glucurrone, inosine, compound vitamins etc. Control group patients received only conventional liver - protective drugs. Results There were significantly differences between the two groups in respect of improvement of clinical symptoms and signs, recovery of liver functions, and serum conversion from hepatitis B e antigen to HBe antibody and from positive serum HBV DNA to negative ( P 0.05 - 0.01) , the efficacy of Matrine group excelled significantly that of control group, No serious side - effects were observed but a slight pain at the site of injection in a few patients.Conclusion These results indicate that Matrine may be a safe, effective medicine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.