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World J Clin Cases. Mar 6, 2022; 10(7): 2063-2071
Published online Mar 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i7.2063
Patterns of liver profile disturbance in patients with COVID-19
Hend Ibrahim Shousha, Ahmed Ramadan, Rania Lithy, Mohamed El-Kassas
Hend Ibrahim Shousha, Ahmed Ramadan, Rania Lithy, Department of Endemic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 12556, Egypt
Mohamed El-Kassas, Department of Endemic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the work, literature review, drafting and critical revision, editing, and final approval of the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have relevant conflict-of-interest to this work.
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: Mohamed El-Kassas, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Endemic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Helwan, Cairo 11795, Egypt. m_elkassas@hq.helwan.edu.eg
Received: April 1, 2021
Peer-review started: April 1, 2021
First decision: July 3, 2021
Revised: July 17, 2021
Accepted: February 9, 2022
Article in press: February 9, 2022
Published online: March 6, 2022
Processing time: 334 Days and 10.6 Hours
Abstract

Fever and cough are the most common clinical symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but complications (such as pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, and multiorgan failure) can occur in people with additional comorbidities. COVID-19 may be a new cause of liver disease, as liver profile disturbance is one of the most common findings among patients. The molecular mechanism underlying this phenomenon, however, is still unknown. In this paper, we review the most current research on the patterns of change in liver profile among patients with COVID-19, the possible explanation for these findings, and the relation to pre-existing liver disease in these patients.

Keywords: Liver functions; COVID-19; Liver profile; Alanine transaminase; aspartate transaminase; Bilirubin

Core tip: Disturbance in the liver profile caused by coronavirus disease 2019 is not a rare event. However, this disturbance is usually mild and has a hepatocellular rather than a cholestatic pattern. It can affect a large number of patients, especially those with a more serious disease course.