NIH unveils database of drugs linked to liver injury

The NIH announced on Oct. 12 the formation of LiverTox, a searchable database of drugs that can cause liver injury, according to a press release.

The free database includes approximately 700 prescription and over-the-counter drugs as well as herbal and dietary supplements. It is intended as a resource for health care professionals and researchers to address questions about, and assist in the diagnosis and control of, drug-induced liver injury, according to the release. LiverTox was developed in collaboration between the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and experts in drug-induced liver disease and other medical specialties.

LiverTox features background reports, case studies and dose recommendations for each included drug, plus an overview of the diagnostic criteria, standard definitions and clinical patterns of drug-induced liver injury. It also allows users to submit incidence reports of liver injury to the FDA MedWatch program. Future updates to LiverTox will be frequent, with information on as many as 300 new medications projected over the coming years.

“Because drug-induced liver disease is not a single, common disease, it is very difficult to diagnose, with each drug causing a somewhat different pattern of liver damage,” Jay H. Hoofnagle, MD, major creator of the database and director of the NIDDK Liver Disease Research Branch, said in the release. “By integrating data that tends to be scattered across the published literature into a single, readily accessible place, we hope to bring greater focus and interest to the study of drug-induced liver injury, and to guide doctors involved with patient care and, ultimately, reduce liver injury and improve the health of the people.”