An analysis of the efficacy and safety of compound glycyrrhizin injections in the treatment of drug-induced liver injury using a nationwide database

Abstract

Background Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) refers to liver damage caused by drugs. DILI poses a significant challenge in the development of new drugs. The management of DILI mainly involves the withdrawal of the offending drug, and there is a lack of specific therapy. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of compound glycyrrhizin (CG) injections in DILI patients. Aim To evaluate the efficacy and safety of compound glycyrrhizin injections in DILI treatment. Methods The clinical data of DILI patients were collected from a nationwide DILI database. Patients were divided into two groups: the compound glycyrrhizin (CG) group who received CG injections, and the control group who received no treatment. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was applied to obtain an even distribution of characteristics between the two groups. The efficacy of the CG injections was assessed by the analysis of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels between the two groups. Results There were 152 patients in the compound glycyrrhizin group and 512 patients in the control group. The PSM method was used to acquire 152 matched pairs. The compound glycyrrhizin group had a significantly higher overall ALT and AST normalization rate than the control group (43.42% vs. 24.34%, p = 0.0004 and 63.82% vs. 38.82%, p ≤ .0001). There was no difference in the levels of renal and serum biochemical parameters between the two groups. Conclusions CG injections are effective in reducing ALT and AST levels in DILI patients, and their safety is comparable to the control group.