Effect of different doses of ursodeoxycholic acid in chronic liver disease

Recent clinical studies have indicated that ursodeoxycholic acid (ursodiol), administered at dosages ranging between 10 and 15 mg/kg/day, improves liver function indices in both cholestatic and inflammatory chronic liver diseases. These dosages would be considered high for the use of ursodiol in gallstone dissolution therapy. To investigate the dose-response relationship to ursodiol administration, we planned a few studies in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and chronic hepatitis (CH). Patients with PBC were subdivided into two groups on the basis of their serum bilirubin values, with 2 mg/dl as the dividing line. Ursodiol was given at dos…