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THE EFFECTS OF DRUGS AND DISEASE ON LIVER FUNCTION TESTS
Author(s) -
Kendall M. J.,
Jack D. B.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.622
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2710
pISSN - 0269-4727
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2710.1980.tb00959.x
Subject(s) - liver function tests , medicine , liver dysfunction , drug , liver disease , liver function , liver toxicity , toxicity , disease , intensive care medicine , pharmacology
Biochemical tests on patients' serum are part of the routine assessment of most medical patients. Some of the tests yield abnormal results in patients with liver dysfunction and are therefore called liver function tests. These may be abnormal in disease and improve as the patient gets better and, in some instances, can be used as a guide to the efficacy of drug therapy. They may also be affected by drugs which alter liver function or which are toxic to the liver. This paper reviews the diagnostic value of the liver function tests and explains how these biochemical values may be abnormal in a variety of diseases. The possible ways in which drugs may modify these results are then described to illustrate how the study of a patient's ‘biochemical profile’ may provide information about the efficacy and/or toxicity of the drugs which the patient is given.