Objective: To assess histopathologically the therapeutic effect of Compound Qinggan Granula (QTG) on chronic hepatitis C.
Methods: Among 48 cases of chronic hepatitis C, 36 were treated by QTG (30g for one time and three times a day) for 6 months, and 12 were not treated with any drugs as control. Liver biopsy was done in all patients before and after the observation except 3 patients who refused to take biopsy again. Specimen were stained with HE and James method, and their grading of inflammation (G), staging of fibrosis (S) and scoring for both were then evaluated.
Results: In the treatment group, 14 and 26 cases showed a decreasing grading (42. 5%) and inflammation scoring (78.8%), respectively. Score for G was reduced from 8.42 to 5.58 (P<0.05). As for the fibrosis, the stage didn't change significantly (P>0.05), but the score was reduced in 19 cases (57.6%) from 3.83 to 3.13 (P<0.05). In the control group, there were not evident changes for grading and staging. The scoring of G increased from 7 to 8.6 and S from 4.15 to 6.6 (P<0.05).
Conclusion: QTG is effective in treating chronic hepatitis C by attenuating inflammation and stopping or reversing the fibrosis.