A CLINICAL EVALUATION OF HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OFKALMEGH (Andrographis paniculata WALL. EX NEES) IN PATIENTS OFACUTE VIRAL HEPATITIS

Hepatitis is becoming a great problem for the medical world due to its variable etiology and clinical presentations. It is creating dangerous life threatening conditions and becoming a burden on the society. It may be a silent killer or continue as a benign disease leading to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatorenal syndrome etc., if it is not treated properly. Acute viral infection is the most common cause of all forms of hepatitis. The viral hepatitis have been thought to be self limiting in nature but sometimes majority of patients of viral hepatitis have been observed ending up with a serious complications like hepatic failure etc. So, the present clinical study was planned to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata Wall. ex Nees) on scientific parameters. In the present clinical trial, two groups of patients of viral hepatitis have been studied to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata Wall. ex Nees) The first group of 35 patients, was given 50 ml of freshly prepared Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata Wall. ex Nees) decoction with 50 gm of glucose powder, made from 10 gm of crude drug, twice daily. The second group of 10 patients, was given 100 gm of glucose powder daily. The trial was conducted for one month and liver functions test and subjective parameters were periodically evaluated to assess the hepatoprotective effect of drug under trial. At the end of the trial, trial group exhibited its hepatoprotective efficiency over the control.