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The mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill extract normalizes liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

  • 2008-04
  • Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) 14(3)
    • Chung-Hua Hsu
    • Kung-Chang Hwang
    • Yi-Hsiung Chiang
    • Pesus Chou

Study Design

Type
Clinical Trial
Population
4 patients with hepatitis B who met the criteria (aged 20-65, Chinese, HBAg(+) carrier >3 years, ALT >100 IU/L, not taking lamivudine, alpha-interferon, or other hepatitis drugs)
Methods
1-year open-label pilot study; daily 1500 mg Agaricus blazei Murill extract for 12 months
Blinding
Open-label
Duration
12 months
Funding
Unclear

Background

Hepatitis B is a global health problem. Use of complementary and alternative medicine has been popular among patients with hepatitis B. This 1-year open-label pilot study aims to observe whether Agaricus blazei Murill extract improves liver function in patients with hepatitis B.

Methods

This study involved 12 months of clinical observation. Four (4) patients with hepatitis B who met the criteria (1) aged between 20 and 65 years; (2) being Chinese; (3) having been a hepatic B carrier (HBAg(+)) for more than 3 years; (4) alanine aminotransferase > 100 IU/L; and (5) not taking lamivudine, alpha-interferon, or other drugs for hepatitis participated in the study with informed consent. The enrolled patients were given Agaricus blazei Murill (ABM) extract of 1500 mg daily for 12 months. The level of alanine aminotransferase was taken as the major outcome measurement.

Results

At the end of the study, the mean level of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase decreased from 246.0 (+/- standard deviation [SD] 138.9) to 61.3 (+/- SD 32.6) IU/L and 151.0 (+/- SD 86.9) to 46.1 (+/- SD 22.5) IU/L, respectively.

Conclusions

Our initial observation seems to indicate the potential benefit of ABM extract in normalizing liver function of patients with hepatitis B. Controlled studies with larger samples should be conducted in the future.

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