Protective effect of tongfu granule on intestinal mucosal barrier in patients with cirrhosis

Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 2008 Sep;28(9):784-7.

Protective effect of compound tongfu granule on intestinal mucosal barrier in patients with cirrhosis of decompensation stage.

Jiang CY, Wang BE, Chen D. Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the intestinal mucosal barrier protective effect of herbal medicine Compound Tongfu Granule (CTG) in patients with liver cirrhosis of decompensation stage.

METHODS: Fifty patients enrolled were randomly assigned to the control group (26 cases) and the CTG group (24 cases), and 30 healthy adults were set up as normal control. After 2-week treatment, the intestinal permeability (IP, represented by urinary lactulose/mannitol excretion rate), plasma endotoxin (EDT) level, and change of enteric bacteria (EB) in patients were observed before and after treatment, and compared with those in the normal control.

RESULTS: Before treatment, cirrhotic patients showed significantly higher levels of IP, EDT, and intestinal bacilli, but a lower amount of enteric bifidobacteria as compared with those the normal control. After 2-week treatment, levels of EDT and urinary excretion rate of lactulose in the CTG group were lowered more significantly than those in the control group (P < 0.05), while the amount of bifidobacteria in the CTG group increased accompanied with intestinal bacilli significantly lowered to near the levels in the normal control (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: CTG can improve the intestinal barrier function, correct the intestinal bacteria disturbance, and significantly reduce the entero-derived endotoxemia in cirrhotic patients of decompensation stage.

PMID: 19065889 [PubMed - in process]