Ibuprofen can reduce memory impairment that often accompanies chronic liver disease. Ibuprofen plays a key role in reducing memory impairment caused by liver disease. It is an anti-inflammatory agent that belongs to a group of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Treatment with such anti-inflammatory agents improves brain function in patients suffering from hepatic encephalopathy (brain changes due to chronic liver disease). Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complex neuro-psychiatric syndrome present in patients with liver disease, which covers a wide range of neuropsychiatric disturbances including impairment of intellectual and cognitive function. To assess the efficacy of Ibuprofen in treating hepatic encephalopathy, researchers at the Centro de Investigacion Principe Felipe in Valencia, Spain, studied rats with hepatic encephalopathy due to portacaval shunts in which the blood from the portal vein which supplies 75% blood to the liver is connected to inferior vena cava, the vein that drains blood from the lower two-thirds of the body. Male rats were treated daily with S-(+) Ibuprofen (sold as Brufen) or saline. Learning ability of the rats was tested in a maze test. The results showed that rats with hepatic encephalopathy have nerve inflammation in the brain and difficulty learning a simple maze task. After the long-term use of Ibuprofen, the ability of the rats to learn the maze was completely restored. This data points to the possible therapeutic utility of decreasing inflammation, by safe procedures, in the treatment of the cognitive deficits in patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Thus, reducing inflammation could restore learning in patients with hepatic encephalopathy.
Hepatology,
August 2007