Medications and liver function

[kiwi]

Just wondering if anyone has any links about how diabetes medications interact with liver function?
Would a low 1 hour before a liver function test (which was corrected with 20gms of carbs) cause a very small elevation in the liver function test results?
Thanks in advance.

[seacomp]

There certainly is the possibility of diabetic medications affecting liver function. Somewhat just before the turn of the century, a popular Type 2 drug to lower insulin resistance, which name I have forgotten, was pulled off the market for causing liver problems.
I've never seen where having a low and correcting for it affected the liver, the brain yes, but not the liver. It may or may not having a bearing on liver test results, which is not the same thing as liver functioning. The map is not the territory.

[JasonSmithMT]

I have never seen a direct correlation between hypoglycemia and elevation in AST or ALT. On the other hand many medications commonly cause increases in AST and ALT.

Jason

[kiwi]

Thanks Jason,
Any links or do you know which medications affect the liver?
Kiwi

[Funnygrl]

Many diabetic medications are metabolized in the liver, causing damage. Alcohol increases this effect.

[JasonSmithMT]

Thanks Jason,
Any links or do you know which medications affect the liver?
Kiwi

Many, many medications have the potential of "being hard" on the liver. As Funnygrl says these are the medications that are mainly metabolized (processed and broken down) by the liver. It would be easier to post your medication list and we can let you know which are potential problems.

For the usual diabetic medications the thiazolidinediones (glitazones), statins, and to a lesser extent the sulfonylureas come to mind first as potential liver problem drugs.

Jason

[seacomp]

March 21, 2000 FDA news
FDA today asked the manufacturer of Rezulin (troglitazone) -- a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus-- to remove the product from the market. The drug's manufacturer, Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert, has agreed to FDA's request.
FDA took this action after its review of recent safety data on Rezulin and two similar drugs, rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos), showed that Rezulin is more toxic to the liver than the other two drugs. Data to date show that Avandia and Actos, both approved in the past year, offer the same benefits as Rezulin without the same risk.