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World J Hepatol. Sep 27, 2021; 13(9): 1143-1153
Published online Sep 27, 2021. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i9.1143
Drug-induced liver injury and COVID-19: A review for clinical practice
Gabriela Xavier Ortiz, Gabriele Lenhart, Matheus William Becker, Karin Hepp Schwambach, Cristiane Valle Tovo, Carine Raquel Blatt
Gabriela Xavier Ortiz, Matheus William Becker, Karin Hepp Schwambach, Graduate Program in Medicine Hepatology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre 90050-170, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Gabriele Lenhart, Multiprofessional Residency Integrated in Health, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre 90050-170, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Cristiane Valle Tovo, Internal Medicine Department, Graduate Program in Medicine-Hepatology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre 90050-170, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Carine Raquel Blatt, Pharmacoscience Department, Graduate Program in Medicine-Hepatology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre 90050-170, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Author contributions: Ortiz GX, Lenhart G, Becker MW and Schwambach KH collected the data and wrote the paper; Blatt CR wrote and revised the paper; Tovo CV performed the final review of the manuscript with significant contributions; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Matheus William Becker, MSc, Pharmacist, Research Scientist, Graduate Program in Medicine Hepatology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Sarmento Leite, 245 Street, Porto Alegre 90050-170, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. matheuswbecker@gmail.com
Received: May 8, 2021
Peer-review started: May 8, 2021
First decision: May 13, 2021
Revised: May 18, 2021
Accepted: August 18, 2021
Article in press: August 18, 2021
Published online: September 27, 2021
Core Tip

Core Tip: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a multisystemic disease, and liver manifestations are an important aspect to be considered. One should pay attention to drug-induced liver injury, especially considering the off-label use of drugs in prophylactic and therapeutic regimens applied on large scales. A review of liver damage in patients with COVID-19 returned three studies involving remdesivir, tocilizumab, and a pharmacovigilance study. Liver disorders in COVID-19 patients and the use of several concomitant off-label drugs - potentially causing further liver damage - should be a warning sign for rapid identification and early intervention, thus preventing severe impairment in patients.