Early monitoring for detection of antituberculous drug-induced hepatotoxicity

Background/Aims: We investigated the time of onset of antituberculous drug-induced hepatotoxicity (ADIH) and related characteristics. Methods: Adult patients (n = 1,031) treated with first-line antituberculous drugs between February 2009 and January 2013 were enrolled. Results: Of the 1,031 patients, 108 patients (10.5%) developed ADIH a mean of $39.6{\pm}43.7$ days after treatment initiation. Twenty-eight patients (25.9%) developed ADIH within 7 days, 73 (67.6%) within 30 days, and the rest after 30 days. The ${\leq}30-day$ group was characterized by higher peak alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and a high proportion of patients with maintenance of first-line antituberculous drugs compared to the > 30-day group. In subgroup analysis, the ${\leq}7-day$ group was characterized by higher baseline aspartate aminotransferase and ALT, high proportion of patients with maintenance of first-line antituberculous drugs, and high proportion of patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis compared to patients with ADIH that developed beyond 7 days. In multivariate analysis, serum ALT > 40 IU/L (odds ratio [OR], 2.995; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.580 to 5.680; p = 0.001) and presence of anti-hepatitis C virus (OR, 4.204; 95% CI, 1.822 to 9.700, p = 0.001) were independent risk factors for development of ADIH. Conclusions: Approximately 70% of the cases of ADIH occurred in the first month of antituberculous treatment, and were associated with continuation of the first-line drug regimen.