Glucocorticoids in combination with ursodesoxycholic acid in the treatment of autoimmune hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis (AH) is usually manifested as chronic hepatitis in clinics; it may evolve to liver cirrhosis, hepatic failure, and even death if treatment is delayed. To investigate the clinical efficacy of glucocorticoids in combination with ursodesoxycholic acid in the treatment of glucocorticoids in combination with ursodesoxycholic acid, one hundred and twenty patients with AH who were admitted to the hospital from February 2014 and February 2016 were selected and randomly divided into an observation group and a control group using random number table. Patients in the control group were treated by glucocorticoids only, while patients in the observation group were treated by ursodesoxycholic acid and glucocorticoids. Patients in both groups were treated for six months. The clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated after treatment. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), direct bilirubin (DBIL) and total bilirubin (TBIL) of the two groups both decreased after treatment (P less than 0.05), the improvement of the level of liver function of the observation group was superior to that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.05); after treatment, the levels of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin m (IgM) of both groups significantly reduced after treatment, and the difference within groups before and after treatment had no statistical significance (P less than 0.05). The reduction of the immunological indicators of the observation group was more remarkable after treatment, and the difference between the two groups had statistical significance (P>0.05). The complete remission rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group; the incidence of adverse reactions was lower than that of the control group, and the difference had statistical significance (P less than 0.05). Thus it can be concluded that glucocorticoids in combination with ursodesoxycholic acid has favorable efficacy in treating AH as it can promote the improvement of liver function and effectively reduce the dose of glucocorticoids and the incidence of adverse reactions. The therapy is of great clinical values.