Glucocorticoid efficacy and treatment strategies for drug-induced liver injury: a literature review

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an adverse reaction to drugs and their metabolites. The activation of adaptive immune and inflammatory responses plays an important role in the pathogenesis of DILI. Glucocorticoids (GCs) have powerful anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects and have been used to treat a variety of immune-mediated liver diseases. Due to the important role of the immune system in DILI, GCs are widely used in the clinical treatment of DILI; however, whether they are beneficial to patients remains controversial. There is no uniform standard for the timing, dosage, and population selection of GCs, which mainly depend on the clinician’s experience. Therefore, elucidating whether GCs are beneficial for patients with DILI is an urgent clinical problem. Our review summarizes the recent literature and discusses the clinical efficacy, applicable population, application timing, and efficacy of GCs in special types of DILI, providing a reference for the clinical application of GCs.