Liv 52 is a herbal preparation which is supposed to have protective effects on the liver. It is often prescribed in liver diseases.
The website of the Himalaya Drug Company which manufactures the product sites several "Scientific Studies". Many of them were published in their own in-house publications and it is doubtful if they went through a rigorous peer review process. In any case the conflict of interest is obvious. Some, however, have been published in indexed journals and I had a look at two of the most impressive ones:
Efficacy of an indigenous compound preparation Liv.52 in acute viral hepatitis – A double-blind study
Sama, S.K., Krishnamurthy, L., Ramachandran, K. and Krishnan Lal, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, Indian Journal of Medical Research (1976): 5, 738.
They excluded sick patients to begin with: "Children below ten and adults above forty were excluded from the trial. Patients in whom there was a rapid deterioration of liver functions, or signs of precoma and/or bleeding tendencies were dropped from the trial and regarded as failures."
Naturally all the patients recovered because they dropped from the study any patient who deteriorated. They report that the bilirubin dropped faster in the patients on Liv 52 but "the total recovery, as evidenced by the normalisation of biochemical parameters especially pyruvic transaminase took more or less the same time in the two sets of patients."
In summary, it made no difference to the outcome.
2. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1991;40(2):189-91.
Effect of Liv.52, a herbal preparation, on absorption and metabolism of ethanol in humans.
Chauhan BL, Kulkarni RD.
Source
R and D Centre, Himalaya Drug Co., Bombay, India.
Abstract
In 8 social drinkers, the effect of a single dose of Liv.52 or placebo on ethanol absorption has been studied after ingestion of 30 ml whisky in 5 min. The t1/2 absorption with Liv.52 was 3.62 min, significantly less than after placebo, 6.29 min. The peak concentration after Liv.52 (49.9 mg.100 ml-1) was significantly higher than with placebo (40.5 mg.100 ml-1). Whisky 120 ml consumed by regular alcohol users in 1 h, before and following 15 days of Liv.52 treatment produced significantly higher ethanol levels at 2, 3 and 4 h and significantly lower acetaldehyde levels at 3 and 4 h after Liv.52 treatment. Liv.52 enhanced the rate of absorption of ethanol and rapidly reduced acetaldehyde levels, which may explain its hepatoprotective effect on ethanol-induced liver damage.
PMID: 2065700 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Note here that this paper is from the Company R&D center. There is an obvious conflict of interest. We cannot expect them to have done an unbiased study. They have not mentioned the P values for the statistical analysis but the chances of demonstrating a significant difference using "8 social drinkers" seem negligible.