Antifibrotic effect of aloe vera in viral infection-induced hepatic periportal fibrosis

Table 1 Characteristics of the study populations (mean ± SD)

Parameter	Control group (n = 15)	Conventional group1 (n = 20)	AHM group2 (n = 20)
Age (yr)	40.2 ± 10.4	41.6 ± 15.4	40.5 ± 13.9
Sex (M/F)	15/0	15/5	17/3
HBV	-	12	12
HCV	-	8	7
Bilharziasis	-	0	1
Fibrosis Stage
F1	0	3	3
F2	0	9	10
F3	0	8	7
F4	0	0	0
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.55 ± 0.20	1.19 ± 0.20	1.18 ± 0.19
ALT (IU/L)	19.4 ± 8.2	87.4 ± 8.4	85.9 ± 9.1
AST (IU/L)	25.0 ± 4.3	50.8 ± 6.7	51.0 ± 4.2
ALP (IU/L)	55.0 ± 14.3	225.0 ± 85.6	223.0 ± 74.5
Albumin (g/dL)	4.4 ± 0.1	4.2 ± 0.2	4.3 ± 0.1
INR	0.88 ± 0.22	1.47 ± 0.3	1.51 ± 0.2

¹Patients treated with the conventional treatment with placebo (starch) for 12 consecutive weeks;

²Patients treated with the conventional treatment with 0.15 g/d AHM for 12 consecutive weeks. AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; INR: International normalization ratio; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; AHM: Aloe vera high molecular weight fractions.

Table 2 Histopathological evaluation of the patients before and after treatment n (%)

	Conventional group			AHM group
	Before	After	χ2/P	Before	After	χ2/P
Grade
0	0 (0)	3 (15)	4.390/	0 (0)	3 (15)	9.390/
1	3 (15)	5 (25)	0.223	3 (15)	9 (45)	0.024a
2	9 (45)	6 (30)		10 (50)	4 (20)
3	8 (40)	6 (30)		7 (35)	4 (20)
Stage
0	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.000/	0 (0)	2 (10)	6.170/
1	3 (15)	3 (15)	1.000	3 (15)	7 (35)	0.103
2	9 (45)	9 (45)		10 (50)	4 (20)
3	8 (40)	8 (40)		7 (35)	7 (35)

^aP < 0.05 vs conventional group. AHM: Aloe vera high molecular weight fractions.

Table 3 Biochemical parameters of hepatitis B virus-induced fibrosis and hepatitis C patients after treatment

	Conventional group		AHM group
Parameter	HBV (n = 12 )	HCV (n = 8 )	HBV (n = 12 )	HCV (n = 7 )
ALT (IU/L)	50.1	47.2	50.1	37.3
AST (IU/L)	40.4	38.3	30.3	28.1
ALP (IU/L)	173.3	177.8	156.3	160.4
MDA (μmol/g)	596.1	607.4	571.0	565.0
GSH (μg/g)	22.9	20.4	23.7	27.6
TGF-β (pg/mL)	38.2	41.1	34.6	38.4
HA (ng/mL)	63.3	59.7	58.1	52.1
MMP-2 (ng/mL)	259.1	277.8	238.8	256.7

ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; MDA: Malondialdhyde; GSH: Reduced glutathione; TGF-β: Transforming growth factor-β; HA: Hyaluronic acid; MMP-2: Matrix metalloproteinase-2; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus.