Natural course and trial of treatment for infantile liver dysfunction associated with cytomegalovirus infections.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been reported as one of the etiologic agents of neonatal and infantile hepatitis, although the pathogenic role of HCMV in hepatitis has yet to be clarified. In this study, we observed the natural courses of liver dysfunction associated with HCMV infection and assessed the effects of oral administration of glycyrrhizin (GL) to patients who had histories of prolonged liver dysfunction and poor body weight gain. Liver dysfunction in these cases clearly improved after administration of GL. GL administration is considered to be one of the suitable treatments for improving liver dysfunction in patients with HCMV infection.