The authors examined the effects of lipoamide on the experimental liver damage of rats by CCl_4 and on the treatment of patients with liver diseases. In experimental studies, lipoamide showed a higher activity in promoting the growth of Streptococcus faecalis 10 C1 than lipoic acid. Moreover, in rats it was observed that both lipoamide and lipoic acid alleviated the histological changes in the CCl_4 poisoning liver and restored the transaminase activity in liver which was lowered due to CCl_4 poisoning. The effects of lipoamide were therefore studied clinically in various liver diseases including 3 cases of acute hepatitis, 8 cases of chronic hepatitis, and 5 cases of liver cirrhosis. Thirty-60mg of lipoamide daily was administered for 1-5 weeks. The subjective symptoms ameliorated or disappeared some or other in all cases and the results of liver : function tests improved in many cases.