Researchers at the Ibima Bionand Platform of the Hospital Clinic in Malaga studied liver damage associated with an anti-urinary tract infection drug. That’s nitrofurantoin, an antibiotic commonly used to fight urinary tract infections.
Urinary tract infections are usually bacterial, they noted in a statement. The most common symptoms in the early stages of infection are persistent urination and a burning sensation while urinating, especially in the lower urinary tract.
Its prevalence is higher in women than men. In this sense, one of the most commonly used drugs is nitrofurantoin, a synthetic antibiotic recommended as the first choice treatment for urinary tract infections, whose most important side effect is liver damage in some patients.
According to some studies, nitrofurantoin-induced liver injury is more common in women and older adults, which may reflect greater use of the drug in these populations due to its frequent prescription.
The above-mentioned study was led by professionals from the Clinical Hospital of the Santa Fe Victoria University, professors from the University of Malaga (UMA) and researchers from the “Hepatogastroenterology, Pharmacology and Clinical Translational Therapeutics” group of the Ibima Platform Bionand, Raúl J · Andrade and Maria Isabel Lucena. In addition, Dr. Andrade is the Chief of Digestive Services at Our Lady of Victoria University Hospital.
The corresponding author of this scientific publication is María Isabel Lucena, Director of the Clinical Pharmacology Service at the Santa Maria del Victoria University Hospital and Director of the Clinical Research and Clinical Trials Unit of the Institute (Uicec-Ibima) Coordinator.
The study, published in the journal Archives of Toxicology, focused on possible liver damage caused by long-term use of these drugs to treat urinary tract infections.
The researchers in an international collaboration analyzed information on 23 patients from the Spanish Hepatotoxicity Registry and the Latin American Hepatotoxicity Registry, both led and coordinated by researchers from the Ibima-Plataforma Bionand Group in Malaga.
Demographic and clinical information of these patients was analyzed to characterize nitrofurantoin-induced liver injury, emphasizing that a common form of nitrofurantoin-induced liver injury is an autoimmune signature.
María Isabel Lucena, a researcher on the study, made the following statement about these interesting results: “We have confirmed that nitrofurantoin-induced liver damage manifests itself mainly in patients with long-term treatment (more than three months), consistent with the results of other previous studies. of learning.
Furthermore, Lucena recalls, “most of the cases studied resulted in mild or moderate impairment, and no patients died or required liver transplantation. Another interesting finding was that five cases demonstrated nitrofurantoin-induced autoimmunity.” Phenotype of liver injury. “This phenotype of liver injury requires specific clinical management, and nitrofurantoin was added to the list of drugs associated with the occurrence of this type of liver injury. “
The study also included researchers from Ibima Plataforma Bionand and other centers belonging to the Spanish Hepatotoxicity Registry and the Latin American Hepatotoxicity Registry (Latindili, Network), which includes hospitals in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and Peru.
Raúl J. Andrade, in turn, noted: “Our study strengthens the concept that nitrofurantoin can induce liver injury that is often associated with asymptomatic presentation. Furthermore, nitrofurantoin-induced autoimmunity Hepatitis may be indistinguishable from classic idiopathic autoimmune hepatitis, which requires immunosuppressive therapy. “Clinicians prescribing nitrofurantoin should be aware that long-term treatment may increase the development of a nitrofurantoin-induced autoimmune liver injury phenotype Opportunity. “