Evaluation of hepatotoxicity in patients exposed to neuromodulator and antineoplastic drugs.

UNLABELLED:

OBJECTIVE

Hepatotoxicity is damage to the liver caused by various possible agents. The term DILI (Drug Induced Liver Injury) is utilized when a drug is identified as the cause. The aim of this study was to evaluate DILI in patients who have used neuromodulators and antineoplastic medications at a university hospital. MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed on adult patients (>18 years). The hepatotoxicity induced by neuromodulator drugs (carbamazepine, duloxetine and gabapentin) administered during the hospital stay and by antineoplastic drugs (capecitabine, cisplatin, oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and sorafenib) utilized in hospital or during out-patient care at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, was analyzed during the period from January 2019 to January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.  The data were collected through medical histories and recorded to analyze the epidemiological, clinical and outcome variables.

RESULTS

1,261 patients used neuromodulating drugs at that hospital, and of these, 105 presented altered liver function tests, 0.24% (n=3) due to DILI. Of the patients using antineoplastic drugs (n=245), 43 patients presented altered liver function tests, 2.0% (n=5) caused by DILI.

CONCLUSIONS

A low frequency of DILI was obtained in patients who utilized neuromodulators and antineoplastic drugs, which may mean a safe profile for using these drugs, showing less toxicity over time. A tendency for a greater incidence of DILI was observed in antineoplastic drugs compared to the neuromodulators, which is to be expected since the profile of a patient who is undergoing treatment for cancer is more compromised.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: https://www.europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Graphical-abstractOK.jpg.