Efficacy of three liver- protecting drugs commonly used in treatment of drug- induced liver injury: a comparative analysis

Objective To compare the efficacy of three liver- protecting drugs commonly used in the treatment of drug- induced liver injury. Methods The clinical data of 90 patients with drug- induced liver injury who were treated in Yingcheng People's Hospital from November 2012 to April 2015 were analyzed retrospectively,and according to the drugs administered,they were divided into groups A,B,and C,with 30 patients in each group. The patients in groups A,B,and C were treated with reduced glutathione,polyene phosphatidylcholine injection,and tiopronin injection,respectively. The efficacy,drug cost,and incidence of adverse events were compared between the three groups. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups,and the LSD t- test was used for comparison of continuous data between any two groups; the chi- square test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups.Results Group A had a significantly higher overall response rate than groups B and C( 90. 0% vs 73. 3% /76. 7%,χ~2= 2. 78 and 3. 75,both P < 0. 05). Group B had a significantly higher drug cost than groups A and C( 316. 12 ± 4. 05 RMB vs 235. 13 ± 2. 90 and 135. 21 ±7. 62 RMB,both P < 0. 01). The incidence of adverse events showed no significant differences between the three groups( P > 0. 05). Conclusion In the clinical treatment of drug- induced liver injury,reduced glutathione has better efficacy compared with polyene phosphatidylcholine and tiopronin,as well as a reasonable cost. Therefore,this drug is preferred in the treatment of this disease.