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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Dec 22, 2025; 16(4): 111306
Published online Dec 22, 2025. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v16.i4.111306
Published online Dec 22, 2025. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v16.i4.111306
Drug-induced liver injury from high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone: A rare but known adverse effect
Kevan English, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
Author contributions: English K wrote the original draft, contributed to conceptualization, writing, reviewing, and editing. The author read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kevan English, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 42nd and Emile, Omaha, NE 68198, United States.
Received: June 27, 2025
Revised: July 30, 2025
Accepted: September 17, 2025
Published online: December 22, 2025
Processing time: 178 Days and 11.6 Hours
Revised: July 30, 2025
Accepted: September 17, 2025
Published online: December 22, 2025
Processing time: 178 Days and 11.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Corticosteroids are widely used in the treatment of various diseases. In general, these medications are considered safe. However, several recent cases have reported severe liver injury with high-dose methylprednisolone (Methyl-PNL). This article reports a case of asymptomatic hepatitis from high-dose Methyl-PNL that resolved with medication discontinuation. This known adverse effect should not preclude providers from treating various clinical conditions with high-dose Methyl-PNL. However, it should not be surprising if acute hepatitis or severe liver injury occurs as an adverse reaction, especially with high doses. We call for more providers to be aware of this idiosyncratic and rare drug side effect.