Investigation of the Effect of Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus L.) on Characteristics of the Fatty Liver

Objective: Fatty liver causes progression in liver damage and accelerates liver fibrosis. Fatty liver may enhance AST and ALT enzymes in blood. Infiltration of lipid in liver is associated with an increasing in its echogenicity, depending on the severity of the lipid infiltration.  Methods: This study is a randomized non-blind clinical trial in order to investigate the effect of Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus L.) herbal tea.  The leaves of the plant were consumed twice a day (one tablespoon in a glass of boiling water for 20 minutes on indirect heat) for 45 days. Using Pokak analytical sampling formula, 70 patients (47 females and 23 males) aged 25 to 63 years were finally tested and the effect of this plant on parenchymal echogenic levels of liver, AST, and ALT of their liver was investigated. Liver enzymes and abdominal ultrasound were performed at the beginning and after treatment and studied people were grouped according to the ultrasound criteria for fatty liver disease after obtaining informed consent. The means were compared using paired t-test and data were analyzed by SPSS  v.18 software. Results: Results showed that studied people, for fatty liver disease were grouped as follows: mild (23 patients, %32.86) as grade 1, moderate (38 patients, %54.28) as grade 2, and severe (9 patients, %12.86) as grade 3. At the end of this study, fatty liver grade was decreased in 51 patients (P≤0.05). However, 19 women didn’t show expected change in the grade of fatty liver. The Mean±SD of the enzymes measured in all patients before and after treatment were 5.49±26.76 and 36.96±13.01 for ALT, and 3641.20±14.46 and 31.76±12.26 for AST. Statistical analysis of the results by t-test showed significant decreasing for ALT and AST levels (P≤0.01).  Conclusion: The results of this study showed that it seems this plant can be used to improve the laboratory symptoms of fatty liver.