Causes of drug induced liver disease

A new study by investigators from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, had done a study on the factors and outcomes of the health condition called drug-induced liver disease.

Drug induced liver disease happens with some medication. Although stops when the medication is withdrawn, some effects of this condition may be requiring liver transplant or can be fatal. An observation made by Dr. Hyman Zimmerman and also called Hy's rule states that the combination of liver cell damage measured by liver enzymes and incidence of jaundice by the drugs can cause deaths in 10 to 15% of the cases thus affected. The FDA uses the rule to assess the liver toxicity of the drugs before they are approved.

The current study is the first one to scientifically test the validity of the rule and analyze the causes and outcomes of the drug induced liver disease. The results of the study support the Hy’s rule, but researchers feel that the rule is highly variable based on the drug that causes the damage to the liver. The researchers also found that AST and bilirubin levels can be taken as predictors of death from liver damage or the need for the liver transplant much more creditably.

Reference: Hepatology, august 2005