Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment in primary biliary cirrhosis with the emphasis on late stage disease

We studied the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid in 19 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, mainly stages III and IV. The dose of UDCA employed was 10-15 mg/kg body weight per day. After 1 yr, 17 patients were still using UDCA, and the mean values of serum alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase and alanine-aminotransferase had fallen significantly. Serum bilirubin, initially elevated in 7 of the 13 late-stage (III and IV) patients, showed a further increase in 3 of the 7 patients. In 2 of these 3 patients, UDCA had to be withdrawn (dose reduction had no effect). One patient developed a decompensated cirrhosis in spite of UDCA withdrawal. Pruritus worsened in 4 patients, all of whom were late stage patients. Ten late-stage (III-IV) patients showed improvement in liver biochemistry and clinical findings as did all early-stage PBC patients. Thus, UDCA treatment is not beneficial for all PBC patients. Special care should be taken in the early phase of UDCA therapy in later-stage (III-IV) patients: frequent biochemical checks should be carried out, for instance every 2 weeks in the first 2 months after starting UDCA, especially the estimation of bilirubin.