Chun-Hung Chiu¹, Chin-Chu Chen^{2, 3}, Hui-Yu Huang², Chang-Cheng Chen³, Ting-Wei Lin³, Charng-Cherng Chyau¹, Ya-ling Chiou^4,, Wang-Sheng Ko^5,

Objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can cause liver inflammation. The peginterferon and ribavirin (pegRiba) therapy are used but is still unsatisfactory by side effects. Many studies indicated that Antrodia cinnamomea mycelia (ACM) have beneficial effects on liver function. However, the effect of ACM in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effects of oral supplementation ACM in chronic hepatitis C patients with pegRiba therapy. Design and interventions: Sixty CHC subjects were randomly collected and were randomly assigned to pegRiba group (30 subjects), or combined treatment with oral ACM (4.68 g/day) (pegRiba +ACM, 30 subjects) for 24-48 weeks. Main outcome measures: The blood samples were taken to analysis levels of biochemical data, viral response, heavy metals, immune function, cytokines and antioxidant status. Results: The results of biochemical data, viral response, immune function, inflammatory cytokines and antioxidant status were not significantly different (p<0.05) between the pegRiba and pegRiba +ACM groups. However, the zinc level of the pegRiba +ACM group was increased significantly after the 12^th week compared with baseline (p<0.05). In addition, lower aluminum, mercury and arsenic levels of the pegRiba +ACM group were presented when compared with baseline (p<0.05). Conclusion: This first pilot study of ACM in CHC patients indicates that the complementary effects of ACM did not induce adverse events during therapy. The oral supplementation ACM could reduce levels of heavy metals and lead to increased zinc level. Increased zinc level is negatively correlated with side effects during the therapy in CHC patients.

chronic hepatitis C, Antrodia cinnamomea, trace elements, heavy metals