BACKGROUNDTo investigate the effect of Oxymatrine (OM) on serum cholinesterase (ChE) during the treatment of viral hepatitis and the relationship between the change of ChE and the change of albumin (ALB), prothrombin activity (PTA) and other liver function tests.

METHODSA total of 98 patients with viral hepatitis were divided into four groups. Group A consisted of 31 patients and were treated with OM intravenous infusion; Group B consisted of 30 patients, treated with OM orally; Group C consisted of 7 patients and were treated with OM intramuscular injection while Group D consisted of 30 patients, and were not treated with OM. ChE, ALB, PTA, liver function, renal function, soluble complement receptor-1 (sCR1) and erythrocyte innate immune adhesion function (EIIAF) were regularly determined.

RESULTSChE in Group A,B,C was dropped obviously during the treatment (P less than 0.001, less than 0.001, 0.023=. But there were no change in ALB, PTA, sCR1, EIIAF (P greater than 0.05), and remarkable improvement of ALT, AST, TBiL was seen during the treatment in Groups A, B, C. After the treatment with OM, the level of ChE recovered soon.

CONCLUSIONSerum level of ChE significantly declined during the treatment of viral hepatitis with OM, but no change was found in ALB, PTA, sCR1, EIIAF while liver function tests showed better results. So the drop of ChE does not mean deprivation of patient's liver disease.