Drug-induced bile duct injury

Publication date: Available online 4 September 2017 Source:Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease Author(s): Michele Visentin, Daniela Lenggenhager, Zhibo Gai, Gerd A. Kullak-Ublick Drug-induced liver injury includes a spectrum of pathologies, some related to the mode of injury, some to the cell type primarily damaged. Among these, drug-induced bile duct injury is characterized by the destruction of the biliary epithelium following exposure to a drug. Most of the drugs associated with bile duct injury cause immune-mediated lesions to the epithelium of interlobular ducts. These share common histopathological features with primary biliary cholangitis, such as inflammation and necrosis at the expense of cholangiocytes and, if the insult persists, bile duct loss and biliary cirrhosis. Some drugs selectively target larger ducts. Such injury is often dose-dependent and thought to be the result of intrinsic drug toxicity. The histological changes resemble those seen in primary sclerosing cholangitis. This overview focuses on the clinical and pathological features of bile duct injury associated with drug treatment and on the immunological and biochemical effects that drugs exert on the biliary epithelium.
Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Molecular Basis of Disease - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research