Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the single most common reason for regulatory actions concerning drugs, including failure to gain approval for marketing, removal from the market place and restriction of prescribing indications.
DILI is also a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in many patient populations. Due to its idiosyncratic nature, variable presentation and the vast number of potential causative drugs as well as herbal and dietary supplements, DILI is often diagnosed late in its course when patients have severe liver disease. DILI, including acute liver failure requiring liver transplantation, can happen anytime to anyone taking medications, even over the counter medications. Unfortunately, there are no tests to predict who is at risk nor to diagnose this problem.
This makes diagnosis and characterization of the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of DILI difficult and does not allow accurate assessment of the epidemiology and risk factors associated with DILI. To stimulate and facilitate research into DILI, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) established the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) in 2003, consisting of five centers across the United States.
In August 2013, the Division of Liver Diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will become the newest member of the DILIN. Lead by Drs. Jawad Ahmad and Joseph Odin, investigators at Mount Sinai hope to shed light on the etiology, risk factors and mechanisms of DILI. The DILIN is a prestigious National Institute of Health (NIH) sponsored clinical network, and the inclusion of Mount Sinai reflects the strength of the faculty in the Division of Liver Diseases and the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute, the outstanding institutional infrastructure and the ability to utilize a multidisciplinary approach involving clinicians and translational and basic scientists. Perhaps most importantly, the large, ethnically diverse population that Mount Sinai serves in the New York metro area, provides a great opportunity to study and treat this potentially devastating illness.
The Mount Sinai DILI team are actively recruiting patients who have or are suspected of having DILI from any prescription, over the counter or herbal/dietary medication. Please contact us by email (Jawad.Ahmad@mountsinai.org, Joseph.Odin@mountsinai.org) or call at 212 241 8035.
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