Drug-induced liver injury with cholestasis in the neurologist and psychiatric practice

Abstract

Among drug-induced liver injuries (DILI), the cholestatic type is second in frequency (from 20 to 40%), the most common is the hepatocellular variant (up to 78%). For this reason, practitioners of various specialties, including neurologists and psychiatrists, do not monitor cholestasis parameters, and drug-induced liver injury with cholestasis (DILIС) remains unrecognized. The urgency of this problem is great, because the frequency of deaths in DILIС is only slightly lower than t in the hepatocellular type; in addition, it DILIС is much more likely to become persistent increasing the risk of chronic liver injury.Among the drugs used in neurology and psychiatry, the “leaders” in terms of the number of DILIС are antidepressants, both tricyclic (amitriptyline, imipramine) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs: paroxetine, sertraline, fluoxetine, citalopram, escitalopram), antidepressants), antipsychotics (chlorpromazine, fluphenazine), anticonvulsants (mainly carbamazepine).If the patient has a history of DILI caused by any of the forementioned medications, the agent should be switched to another drug from the same group with a minimal risk of DILI. If there is a history of DILI associated with antidepressants, it is recommended to choose SSRIs. It is necessary to monitor not only the activity of transaminases and bilirubin, but also the cholestasis parameters (alkaline phosphatase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase) during treatment.

Keywords

• drug-induced liver disease
• drug-induced liver damage with cholestasis
• antidepressants
• antipsychotics
• anticonvulsants