Is early liver fibrosis easy to treat? What medicine should be used?

Liver health is very important to our body. Early liver fibrosis is a superficial lesion. If treated promptly and well-regulated, it can be cured. There are many treatments for early liver fibrosis, the main one of which is taking some anti-liver and liver-protecting drugs. Drugs that protect the liver have a significant therapeutic effect on liver disease and have an ideal effect on patients with early liver fibrosis.

1. Drugs that promote metabolism

For patients with cirrhosis and severe liver damage, the use of adenosine triphosphate and coenzyme A can promote the metabolism of sugar, fat and protein, but the malignant transformation of cirrhosis must be ruled out first.

The liver is the largest metabolic organ in the human body. Many drugs must be broken down, transformed and detoxified in the liver. Therefore, blindly abusing liver protection drugs will definitely increase the burden on the liver. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that some liver protection drugs contain toxic ingredients that may aggravate the condition of patients with cirrhosis. Therefore, patients with cirrhosis must use liver-protecting drugs under the guidance of a physician with extensive clinical experience, and the use of medication should vary from person to person, and should be limited but precise. Only by correctly grasping and coordinating the relationship between rest, diet and medication can we maintain the long-term stability of the disease and improve the quality of life. If patients with cirrhosis develop complications such as ascites, gastrointestinal bleeding, and hepatic encephalopathy, they should be hospitalized immediately.

2. Immunomodulatory drugs

The main immunomodulatory drugs include thymosin α1 (Ridectin), anti-hepatitis B immune RNA and transfer factor, among which thymosin α1 is the most widely used. The efficacy of immunomodulatory drugs alone is not ideal, but their combination with antiviral drugs can enhance their efficacy. Thymosin α1 is expensive and has relatively more side effects.

3. Drugs to improve liver function

Commonly used drugs to improve liver function include glycyrrhizin and silymarin. Glycyrrhizin has the effects of stimulating the reticuloendothelial system and antiviral effects. Representative drugs include galactopyrin and glycyrrhizin. The enzyme-lowering effect of glycyrrhizin is better than that of galactopyrin. During clinical use, the dosage of these two drugs should be gradually reduced and discontinued to avoid rebound of alanine aminotransferase.

Silymarin is a total flavonoid extracted from the seeds of Milk thistle, a plant of the Flavoured Asteraceae family. Its main ingredient is Milk thistle. Silymarin has good liver-protecting and choleretic effects. It can protect and enhance liver cell function, promote liver metabolism, enhance the liver's detoxification ability, lower blood lipids, and promote improvement of the condition of patients with liver necrosis or abnormal liver function. Commonly used representative medicines include Yiganling, Ligansu and Dangfei Liganning, etc.

4. Anti-liver fibrosis drugs

Penicillamine can inhibit the cross-linking in collagen fiber formation, but its efficacy is uncertain and there are many adverse reactions, so it is not commonly used in clinical practice. Colchicine has anti-inflammatory effects and can induce the synthesis and secretion of collagenase, and can promote collagen degradation. Many traditional Chinese medicines have good anti-liver fibrosis effects, such as compound danshen mixture, cordyceps mycelium, and tetrandrine. Among them, tetrandrine is a calcium channel blocker that can reduce portal vein pressure and reduce the degree of hepatocyte degeneration, necrosis and fibrosis.

5. Vitamin drugs

B vitamins can prevent fatty liver and protect liver cells; vitamin C can promote metabolism and detoxification; patients with cirrhosis who are obviously malnourished can appropriately supplement with vitamin B12 and folic acid; vitamin K1 can improve the coagulation function of patients with cirrhosis.