Drug-Induced Liver Injury

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a serious health problem with increasing importance for the general public, medical community, pharmaceutical industries and governmental regulatory agencies. Hepatotoxicity is the main reason for post-marketing regulatory decisions including drug withdrawal. DILI is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the USA. Drugs can cause a variety of forms of liver injury that range in severity and mimic all forms of acute and chronic liver disease. The low incidence of DILI coupled with limited knowledge of the biochemical mechanisms make it difficult to identify high risk patients and therefore a high index of suspicion is often required to make the diagnosis and for timely discontinuation of the offending agent.