Research progress on liver transplantation for drug-induced liver injury / 器官移植

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a type of necrotizing and inflammatory liver disease caused by certain commonly-used drugs, Chinese herbal medicines or dietary supplements. In severe cases, it may lead to acute liver failure. Without liver transplantation, the fatality could reach up to 80%. It is of significance to master the indications of liver transplantation. Several prognostic scoring systems have been developed to help clinicians to decide which patients need urgent liver transplantation, such as King's College criteria (KCC) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scoring systems. However, these scoring methods have been developed for a long period of time and lack of modifications. Therefore, scholars have proposed several new scoring systems, such as acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scoring systems, which provide novel ideas for the evaluation of liver transplantation. As an important treatment measure for drug-induced acute liver failure, urgent liver transplantation has greatly improved the survival rate of patients. In this article, the classification, clinical diagnosis, liver transplantation evaluation and prognosis of DILI were summarized, aiming to provide reference for the treatment of DILI by liver transplantation.

Guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment of herb-induced liver injury / 中国中药杂志

In recent years, the issues related to herb-induced liver injury (HILI) have received much concern. Its clinical diagnosis is much difficult than that of Western medicine-induced liver injury due to its complicated drug combination and multiple constituents. Moreover, it is also correlated with physiques, inheritance and basic diseases. China Association of Chinese Medicine has released the first standards for HILI diagnosis and treatment technology in 2016, namely Guidelines for clinical diagnosis of herb-induced liver injury (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). The diagnostic processes with different diagnostic results were explained in this paper to help clinicians, particularly liver specialists, in diagnosing liver diseases by applying the operation of the Guidelines.

Progress in influence factors on drug induced liver injury / 中国药学杂志

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a hot topic for clinicians, academia, drug companies and regulators. It is essential to understand risk factors of idiosyncratic DILI in order to accurately predict and prevent this problem. However, the role of factors on the pathogenesis of DILI is poorly understood. Indeed, both drug properties and host factors are likely interact at multiple levels to determine individual risks and clinical outcome of DILI. In this review, cross-disciplinary view over drug characteristics associated with hepatotoxicity is provided, and various host factors influencing individuals' DILI risks at updating the current knowledge to stimulate future investigation are discussed.

Clinical analysis of two diagnosis methods for herb-induced liver injury / 中国中药杂志

To compare the consistency and difference of herb-induced liver injury between two methods in guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment of liver injury related to Chinese herbal medicine in China (2016) and guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of drug-induced liver injury in China(2015). This retrospective analysis included 390 patients with herb-induced liver injury who had a history of suspicious Chinese herbal medicines or patent medicines; the patients with integrative Chinese and western medicines were excluded from this study. The results indicated that there were 14(4%) extremely probable patients (>8 points), 185(47%) highly probable patients (6-8 points) and 191(49%) probable patients(3-5 points) in 390 cases with guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of drug-induced liver injury of China (2015). While when guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment of liver injury related to Chinese herbal medicine in China (2016) was used for 390 patients, the results indicated that there were 5 (1%) cases with proven diagnosis, 163(42%) cases with clinical diagnosis, and 222(57%) cases with suspected diagnosis. Statistics showed that two methods had a consistency of 43% and difference of 14%. The research results showed that Guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment of liver injury related to Chinese herbal medicine in China(2016) was more suitable for the diagnosis of herb-induced liver injury. Due to the limitations of retrospective case study, further more prospective studies would be needed.

Drug-induced liver injury caused by iodine-131

Iodine-131 is a radioisotope that is routinely used for the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer after total or near-total thyroidectomy. However, there is some evidence that iodine-131 can induce liver injury . Here we report a rare case of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) caused by iodine-131 in a patient with regional lymph node metastasis after total thyroidectomy. A 47-year-old woman was admitted with elevated liver enzymes and symptoms of general weakness and nausea. Ten weeks earlier she had undergone a total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma and had subsequently been prescribed levothyroxine to reduce the level of thyroid-stimulating hormone. Eight weeks after surgery she underwent iodine-131 ablative therapy at a dose of 100 millicuries, and subsequently presented with acute hepatitis after 10 days. To rule out all possible causative factors, abdominal ultrasonography, endoscopic ultrasonography (on the biliary tree and gall bladder), and a liver biopsy were performed. DILI caused by iodine-131 was suspected. Oral prednisolone was started at 30 mg/day, to which the patient responded well.

Factors affecting drug-induced liver injury: antithyroid drugs as instances

Methimazole and propylthiouracil have been used in the management of hyperthyroidism for more than half a century. However, hepatotoxicity is one of the most deleterious side effects associated with these medications. The mechanism(s) of hepatic injury induced by antithyroid agents is not fully recognized yet. Furthermore, there are no specific tools for predicting the occurrence of hepatotoxicity induced by these drugs. The purpose of this article is to give an overview on possible susceptibility factors in liver injury induced by antithyroid agents. Age, gender, metabolism characteristics, alcohol consumption, underlying diseases, immunologic mechanisms, and drug interactions are involved in enhancing antithyroid drugs-induced hepatic damage. An outline on the clinically used treatments for antithyroid drugs-induced hepatotoxicity and the potential therapeutic strategies found to be effective against this complication are also discussed.

Albendazole-induced liver injury: a case report / Lesión hepática inducida por albendazol: reporte de un caso

We report a case of a 47-year-old male, who was referred to the clinical hepatology services at Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital for evaluation of a jaundice syndrome. After undergoing several exams, we diagnosed hepatic hydatidosis and the patient was treated with albendazole; however, after five months of uninterrupted treatment the patient again consulted and his liver test showed marked hepatocellular damage. This time, the patient was diagnosed with drug-induced liver injury due to albendazole, based on information from the clinical record, history of drug consumption, clinical and laboratory tests improved after discontinuing the medication and after discarding other possible causes; this diagnosis was supported by the CIOMS/RUCAM scale, which showed a "likely" correlation between hepatocellular damage and drug toxicity etiology.

Presentamos el caso de un paciente masculino de 47 años de edad, quien fue remitido al servicio de hepatología clínica del Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe para el estudio de un síndrome ictérico. Tras realizársele varios análisis, se le diagnosticó hidatidosis hepática y recibió albendazol como terapia, sin embargo, después de cinco meses de tratamiento ininterrumpido consultó nuevamente y su perfil hepático mostró marcado daño hepatocelular. Se le diagnosticó entonces una hepatitis toxica inducida por albendazol basados en la información de la historia clínica, el antecedente de consumo del fármaco, la mejoría clínica y en las pruebas de laboratorio tras suspender el medicamento y después de descartar las otras causas posibles; este diagnóstico fue respaldado por la escala CIOMS/RUCAM, que mostró una correlación probable entre el daño hepatocelular y la etiología toxica farmacológica.