1. Summary of characteristics of the included trials.

Trial	Risk of bias	Ursodeoxycholic acid dose*	Trial duration (months)	Severity of PBC#¤
Papatheodoridis 2002	High	13.5	92.4	0.6400
Pares 2000	Low	15.0	40.8	0.2708
Combes 1995	High	11.0	24.0	0.6689
Leuschner 1989	High	10.0	9.0	0.1500
Eriksson 1997	High	7.7	24.0	0.3350
Vuoristo 1995	High	13.5	24.0	0.3333
Goddard 1994	High	10.0	15.0	0.3200
Lindor 1994	Low	14.0	48.0	0.6833
Battezzati 1993	Low	8.7	12.0	0.4950
Senior 1991	High	10.0	6.0	0.6666
Turner 1994	Low	10.0	24.0	0.8261
Hwang 1993	High	9.2	3.0	0.5833
Oka 1990	High	9.2	6.0	0.3795
Heathcote 1994	Low	14.0	24.0	0.5270
Poupon 1991	High	14.0	24.0	0.4658

* ursodeoxycholic acid dose in mg/kg/day. 
 # PBC= primary biliary cirrhosis. 
 ¤ proportion of patients with stage III or IV at entry; or proportion of symptomatic patients at entry.