New study links drugs to liver damage

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According to the Parmaceutical Business Review online, a study out of Washington University School of Medicine shows that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) can increase liver damage in patients.

Here are some details of the study:

Using an experimental mouse model of the disorder, the researchers investigated the effects of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) on liver injury. The findings show that the NSAID indomethacin, administered at doses typically nontoxic to mice, significantly increased liver damage. The mice carried a mutated form of the human alpha-1-AT gene, the most common form of the gene associated with the development of liver disease in people with alpha-1-AT deficiency.

"These data demonstrate that environmental factors such as drug administration can affect the development of liver injury in this animal model," said lead author David Rudnick, assistant professor of pediatrics. "And they raise the possibility that NSAIDs could have similar effects on gene and protein expression and perhaps on liver injury in people with alpha-1-AT deficiency."

NSAID types include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Nuprin, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), and COX-2 inhibitors (Bextra, Celebrex). For more information, visit our link to Vioxx, Celebrex and NSAIDs.