Liver injury induced by high-dose methylprednisolone therapy: a case report and brief review of the literature

Corticosteroids are used widely to treat many types of disease. In general, these drugs are considered safe for the liver; however, recent reports have demonstrated that high-dose methylprednisolone (MT) may cause severe liver injury. Here, we report a case of a 24-year-old female who was given pulsed MT therapy for multiple sclerosis. MT induced icteric hepatitis and impaired liver synthetic function. Hepatotoxicity developed several weeks after drug exposure, and the causal association with MT was confirmed by unintentional rechallenge test. A brief review of the literature on corticosteroid-induced hepatotoxicity is presented.