Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2021; 9(3): 528-539
Published online Jan 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i3.528
Clinical features and potential mechanism of coronavirus disease 2019-associated liver injury
Mei-Wen Han, Ming Wang, Meng-Ying Xu, Wei-Peng Qi, Peng Wang, Dong Xi
Mei-Wen Han, Ming Wang, Meng-Ying Xu, Wei-Peng Qi, Peng Wang, Dong Xi, Institute of Infectious Disease, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Han MW performed most of the writing and prepared the figures and tables; Wang M and Xu MY collected the data; Qi WP and Wang P coordinated the writing of the paper; Xi D designed the outline.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
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: Dong Xi, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Infectious Disease, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Dadao, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China. xidong@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn
Supported by The National Major Science and Technology Special Project on Major New Drug Innovation, No. 2018ZX09733001-002-006; and Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, No. 2019CFB328.
Received: September 19, 2020
Peer-review started: September 19, 2020
First decision: November 26, 2020
Revised: December 10, 2020
Accepted: December 23, 2020
Article in press: December 23, 2020
Published online: January 26, 2021
Processing time: 116 Days and 21.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: With the number of confirmed cases increasing worldwide, abnormal liver function has been observed in many patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19-associated liver injury refers to any hepatic damage that occurs during disease progression and treatment in COVID-19 patients with or without underlying liver diseases. Underlying mechanisms may be viral infection in liver cells, systemic inflammation induced by cytokine storm, drug induced liver injury or pneumonia-associated hypoxia. A close monitor of liver function is recommended in COVID-19 patients, especially in critical individuals.