Drug-induced hepatotoxicity

Drug-induced liver injury is a potential complication of nearly every medication that is prescribed, because the liver is central to the metabolic disposition of virtually all drugs and foreign substances.¹–³ Although drugs are usually metabolized without injury to the liver, many fatal and near-fatal drug reactions occur each year. A few compounds produce metabolites that cause liver injury in a uniform, dose-dependent fashion.⁴–⁶ Most agents form a toxic byproduct only in rare persons. Injury to hepatocytes results either directly from the disruption of intracellular function or membrane integrity or indirectly from immune-mediated membrane damage. Factors promoting the accumulation.