Hepatocurative Effect of Saussurea lappa C.B Clarke and Artemisia absinthium, Linn in Chronic Hepatitis B

Objective: Repeated immune attacks in chronic hepatitis B produce recurrent inflammation in the liver and render it to develop fibrous tissue and carcinoma. Hence, present study aims to evaluate the hepatocurative effect of qust (Saussurea lappa) and afsanteen (Artemisia absinthium) in the chronic hepatitis B patients. Methods: In a single arm pilot clinical study, 30 patients of chronic hepatitis B with ALT (alanine aminotransferase) >2 times of upper limit of normal were treated with decoction of qust (Saussurea lappa) and decoction of afsanteen (Artemisia absinthium) daily orally for 3 months. Patients were evaluated for liver function test at baseline, 6th week and 12th week of treatment. Result: Test drug reduced the mean serum bilirubin, ALT, AST highly significantly at 12th week of treatment. (p<0.01). Conclusion: We reviewed the literature related to the test drug, Saussurea lappa and Artemisia absinthium used for the treatment in these cases. The observed hepatocurative effect could be due anti-inflammatory, hepatoprtotective, antioxidant and immunomodulator properties of these drugs, substantiated in various animal studies. These findings indicate the hepatocurative effect of Saussurea lappa and Artemisia absinthium in chronic hepatitis B cases. Randomized controlled clinical studies should be conducted to explore the further efficacy.

Key message: To establish hepatocurative nature of decoction of Saussurea lappa and Artemisia absinthium in chronic hepatitis B patients with deranged liver function test.