BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF MILK KEFIR IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION

Author(s): Basant M Morsy1, Ayman M Mahmoud2*, Mohamed I Zanaty1, Adel Abdel-Moneim2 and Mohamed A Abo-Seif3

Abstract

The current study was designed to evaluate the beneficial therapeutic effects of milk kefir in Egyptian hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Thirty volunteer patients with proven HCV and fifteen age matched healthy subjects were included in this study. Exclusion criteria included patients on interferon therapy, infection with hepatitis B virus, drug-induced liver diseases, advanced cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma or other malignancies, blood picture abnormalities and major severe illness. The included subjects were divided into three groups as follows: Group 1 served as healthy, Group 2 served as HCV control and Group 3 HCV patients received 250 ml freshly prepared milk kefir twice daily for one month. Liver function enzymes, albumin, total bilirubin, prothrombin time and concentration, international normalized ratio, lipid profile and viral load were all assessed at baseline and at the end of the study. Milk kefir exhibited marked therapeutic benefits in HCV patients through decreasing viral load, alleviating the altered liver function and improvement of lipid profile. The ameliorative effects of milk kefir in HCV patients may be attributed to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune-stimulatory effects.

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