Recent status of drug-induced liver injury.

Drug-induced liver injury is an major cause of acute liver injury and the incidence of drug-induced liver injury seems to be increasing with an increase in the number of new drugs available. The diagnostic scale of drug-induced liver injury was been modified by the International Consensus Meeting during Digestive Disease Week, Japan 2004, which includes the score of the drug-lymphocyte stimulation test and eosinophilia. Although the modified diagnostic scale is useful, and widely used in Japan, there will be many issues to be investigated in the future. According to a recent survey of drug-induced liver injury cases in Japan, drug-induced liver injury from dietary supplements are increasing, as has been observed in foreign countries. More research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms of drug metabolism and the pathophysiology of liver injury by various drugs to prevent drug-induced liver injury.