Ursosan is a drug that is produced in the Czech Republic. It belongs to the pharmacotherapeutic group of hepatoprotectors, synthetic preparations of bile acids. This medication is able to protect liver cells from various negative effects and prolong the period of their functional activity due to numerous pharmacological properties. Let us consider in detail who is recommended to use and how the Ursosan medicine works, as well as its analogues.
Composition and medicinal effect of the drug Ursosan
Ursosan is available in the form of gelatin capsules, which are packed in 10, 50 and 100 pieces. The active substance of this drug is ursodeoxycholic acid. This acid is a natural component of the bile of a person, for a medicine it is obtained synthetically. The mechanism of action of the active substance of Ursosana is based on the ability to stabilize liver cells - hepatocytes - and make them more resistant to various aggressive influences. Molecules of ursodeoxycholic acid are incorporated into the membrane of liver cells and form safe complexes with bile acids, which have a toxic effect, thereby neutralizing them.
In addition, the drug has the following therapeutic effects:
- choleretic action (increased bile secretion and activation of its excretion);
- prevention of education and destruction of biliary cholesterol stones;
- decrease in cholesterol in the blood ;
- strengthening the immune system;
- an obstacle in the development of fibrous (scar) tissue in the liver.
Getting into the human body, Ursosan is absorbed into the small intestine. The highest concentration in the blood is observed three hours after taking the drug. Regular use of this drug contributes to the fact that ursodeoxycholic acid becomes the main bile acid in the body.
Indications for the use of Ursosan and its analogues
The main diagnoses that recommend the use of such drugs are:
- the presence of concrements in the gallbladder, the main constituent of which is cholesterol (the size of the stones should not exceed 15 mm in diameter, and the gallbladder should function);
- gastritis with reflux of bile;
- primary biliary cirrhosis of the liver (in the absence of symptoms of decompensation).
Also, the drug is recommended for such diseases:
- chronic hepatitis of different origin;
- alcoholic liver disease;
- biliary dyskinesia ;
- cystic fibrosis;
- chronic helminthiasis caused by a feline biotope;
- toxic liver damage, etc.
What can replace Ursosan?
The list of analogical tablets (capsules) of Ursosan, which also include ursodeoxycholic acid as an active ingredient, is quite wide. Let us list first the main drugs that are produced by Russian pharmaceutical companies:
- Urdoks;
- Ursodeoxycholic acid;
- Ursodez;
- Eshol.
Analogues of Ursosan, produced by foreign manufacturers of medicines, are:
- Livedoksa (India);
- Ursodex (India);
- Ursoliv (Thailand);
- Ursoron Rompharm (Romania);
- Ursofalk (Germany);
- Ursohol (Ukraine) and others.
Contraindications of Ursosan and its analogues
Ursosan, as well as his substitutes, is contraindicated for taking in such cases:
- stones in the gallbladder with a high calcium content;
- non-functioning gallbladder;
- cirrhosis of the liver in the phase of decompensation;
- blockage of the biliary tract;
- infections of the gallbladder and bile ducts in the acute stage;
- acute inflammation of the gallbladder;
- renal or hepatic insufficiency, etc.