Effects of Injinchunggantang(茵蔯淸肝湯) on Fulminant Mouse Viral Hepatitis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<Objectives>
10% of Korean adults are hepatitis B virus carriers, and there has been no satisfactory treatment in western medicne. So, this study was done to confirm the liver protective effects of herbal medicine, Injinchunggantang on fulminant viral hepatitis.

<Methods>
680g of Injinchunggantang was decocted twice for 2 hours respectively, filtrated, vacuumevaporated and powderized by a spray dryer. 10ml/kg on Injinchunggantang was given orally for 8 consecutive days to 4 experimental groups, which consisted of 13 mice, respectively; the MHV-2 only group, the MHV-2+Injinchunggantang 1,000mg/kg group, the MHV-2+Injinchunggantang 300mg/kg group and the uninfected control group. Virus titer in hepatocyte was measured by the Hirano's method. And immunofluorescence, serological findings, histopathological findings were observed.

<Results>
The survivality was 20% in mice inoculated only with the MHV-2,53% in mice inoculated with the MHV-2+ Injinchunggantang (1,000mg/kg), 26% in mice inoculated with the MHV-2 + Injinchunggantang(300mg/kg).
In viral growth, virus titer of the Injinchunggantang 1,000mg/kg group was somewhat lower than that of the MHV-2 only group, while there was no significant difference between the Injinchunggantang 300mg/kg group and the MHV-2 only group.
In serological values(ALT, AST, ALP, LDH), there were no significant differences among the MHV-2 only group and the Injinchunggantang 1,000mg/kg and 300mg/kg groups.
Hepatic lesion in the MHV-2 only group was characterized by massive hepatic necrosis without inflammatory cell infiltration. However, zonal necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration were observed in the Injinchunggantang 1,000mg/kg group. And the Injinchungantang 300mg/kg group was characterized by massive hepatic necrosis and moderate inflammatory cell infiltration.
<Conclusion>
Injinchunggantang showed dose-dependent, liver protective effect on fulminant hepatitis. And clinical use of Injinchunggantang on hepatic diseases is recommendable.