AIM:To test whether colchicine would be an effective antif ibrotic agent for treatment of chronic liver diseases in patients who could not be treated with α-interferon.METHODS:Seventy-four patients(46 males,28 females) aged 40-66 years(mean 53±13 years) participated in the study.The patients were affected by chronic liver diseases with cirrhosis which was proven histologically(n=58);by chronic active hepatitis C(n=4),chronic active hepatitis B(n=2),and chronic persistent hepatitis C(n=6).In the four patients lacking histology,cirrhosis was diagnosed from anamnesis,serum laboratory tests,esophageal varices and ascites.Patients were assigned to colchicine(1 mg/d) or standard treatment as control in a randomized,double-blind trial,and followed for 4.4 years with clinical and laboratory evaluation.RESULTS:Survival at the end of the study was 94.6% in the colchicine group and 78.4% in the control group(P=0.001).Serum N-terminal peptide of type Ⅲ procollagen levels fell from 34.0 to 18.3 ng/mL(P=0.0001),and pseudocholinesterase levels rose from 4.900 to 5.610 mU/mL(P=0.0001) in the colchicine group,while no signif icant change was seen in controls.Best results were obtained in patients with chronic hepatitis C and in alcoholic cirrhotics.CONCLUSION:Colchicine is an effective and safe antifibrotic drug for long-term treatment of chronic liver disease in which fi brosis progresses towards cirrhosis. AIM: To test whether colchicine would be an effective antif ibrotic agent for treatment of chronic liver diseases in patients who could not be treated with α-interferon. METHODS: Seventy-four patients (46 males, 28 females) aged 40-66 years ( mean 53 ± 13 years) participated in the study. The patient were affected by chronic liver diseases with cirrhosis which was proven histologically (n = 58); by chronic active hepatitis C (n = 4) ), and chronic persistent hepatitis C (n = 6) .In the four patients lacking histology, cirrhosis was diagnosed from anamnesis, serum laboratory tests, esophageal varices and ascites.Patients were assigned to colchicine (1 mg / d) or standard treatment as control in a randomized, double-blind trial, and followed for 4.4 years with clinical and laboratory evaluation. RESULTS: Survival at the end of the study was 94.6% in the colchicine group and 78.4% in the control group (P = 0.001). Serum N-terminal peptide of type III procollagen levels fell from 34.0 to 18.3 ng / mL (P = 0.0001), and the pseudocholinesterase levels rose from 4.900 to 5.610 mU / mL (P = 0.0001) in the colchicine group, while no signif icant change was seen in controls.Best results were obtained in patients with chronic hepatitis C and in alcoholic cirrhotics. CONCLUSION: Colchicine is an effective and safe antifibrotic drug for long-term treatment of chronic liver disease in which fi brosis progresses towards cirrhosis.