EFFECT OF THE PURIFIED UNSAPONIFIABLE FRACTION OF SOYBEAN IN COMBINATION WITH URSODEOXYCHOLIC ACID ON CHOLESTEROL SATURATION OF BILE AND STONE DISSOLUTION IN GALLSTONE PATIENTS

The effects of pharmaceutical preparation of the unsaponifiable fraction of soybean (MRG), ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and their combined treatment on lithogenic index (L. I.) and gallstone dissolution were clinically investigated in gallstone patients. When seven patients with cholelithiasis were given UDCA alone at a daily dose of 300 or 400 mg during ca. 5 months, their L. I. were cleary decreased in almost cases and the biliary cholesterol concentration in 6 patients treated by MRG alone also tended to decrease. In another group, four gallstone patients were treated during first ca. one year by UDCA alone at a daily dose of 450 mg, followed by a combined therapy of UDCA (450 mg/day) with MRG (9 g/day) for ave. 6 months. A certain reduction of L. L through the treatment of UDCA alone was further reinforced by the subsequent simultaneous use of UDCA and MRG. In fourth group, the combined UDCA (300-450 mg/day)-MRG (9 g/day) treatment was performed for 9 patients with gallbladder stones during ca. 4.5 months aiming at the dissolution of gallstones. It must be noted that in three out of nine subjects, the complete dissolution was observed (dissolution percentage 33.3% during ave. 4.5 months) as well as a general decrease of L. L in most cases of this group. These results indicate that MRG additively or synergistically enhance the clinical potency of UDCA in the dissolution of gallstones