Effects of entecavir, partial splenic artery embolization, and salvia miltiorrhiza on patients with hypersplenism due to hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis

Objective To study the effects of partial splenic artery embolization (PSE), entecavir (ETV) and salvia miltiorrhiza (SM) in patients with hypersplenism due to hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis. Methods Two-hundred patients with hypersplenism due to hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis were divided randomly into 4 groups: Basic treatment; ETV; PSE+ETV; PSE+ETV+SM. Size of the spleen, white blood cell (WBC), platelet(PLT), total bilirubin (TBil), hyaluronic acid, type III procollagen, type IV collagen, laminin, T lymphocyte subsets CD4 and CD8, interleukin 2 (IL-2), IFN-gamma, interleukin 10, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1(TIMP-1), metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) were measured. Results WBC, PLT, T lymphocyte subsets CD4, CD4/CD8, IL-2, IFN-gamma, MMP-1 after treatment showed significant improve in the ETV, ETV+ PSE and ETV+ PSE+SM subgroups compared to the basic treatment subgroup. TBil, hyaluronic acid, type III procollagen, type IV collagen, laminin, T lymphocyte subset CD8, interleukin 10, TGF-beta1, TIMP-1 significantly decrease in the ETV, ETV+ PSE and ETV+ PSE+SM subgroups compared to the basic treatment subgroup. Conclusions Entecavir is effective for the treatment of hypersplenism due to hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis. PSE and salvia miltiorrhiza demonstrate improvement in therapeutic benefits.