Drawing Conclusions about Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test Results
Authors: Weekitt Kittisupamongkol
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2008)

Letters15 July 2008Drawing Conclusions about Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test ResultsWeekitt Kittisupamongkol, MDWeekitt Kittisupamongkol, MDFrom Surin Hospital, Surin 32000, Thailand.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-149-2-200807150-00015 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:I read with interest the article by Lazo and colleagues (1). The authors do not mention the possible effect of statin use in their study. They enrolled middle-aged participants with diabetes and hypertension; such status brought awareness of the metabolic syndrome. The volunteers may be prescribed statins, a widely used group of cholesterol-lowering drugs known to cause increased levels of aminotransferases (2–4). The increases in aminotransferase levels with statin use are asymptomatic, and these levels may return to normal with continuation of statin therapy (4). Approximately one third of adult participants in the study had transient increases ...References1. Lazo M, Selvin E, Clark JM. Brief communication: clinical implications of short-term variability in liver function test results. Ann Intern Med. 2008;148:348-52. [PMID: 18316753] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Green RM, Flamm S. AGA technical review on the evaluation of liver chemistry tests. Gastroenterology. 2002;123:1367-84. [PMID: 12360498] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Alsheikh-Ali AA, Maddukuri PV, Han H, Karas RH. Effect of the magnitude of lipid lowering on risk of elevated liver enzymes, rhabdomyolysis, and cancer: insights from large randomized statin trials. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007;50:409-18. [PMID: 17662392] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Armitage J. The safety of statins in clinical practice. Lancet. 2007;370:1781-90. [PMID: 17559928] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Weekitt Kittisupamongkol, MDAffiliations: From Surin Hospital, Surin 32000, Thailand.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoBrief Communication: Clinical Implications of Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test Results Mariana Lazo , Elizabeth Selvin , and Jeanne M. Clark Drawing Conclusions about Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test Results Liu Hong , Kaichun Wu , and Daiming Fan Drawing Conclusions about Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test Results Agostino Colli and Daniele Prati Drawing Conclusions about Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test Results Mariana Lazo , Elizabeth Selvin , and Jeanne M. Clark Drawing Conclusions about Short-Term Variability in Liver Function Test Results Gaurav Arora and George Triadafilopoulos Metrics 15 July 2008Volume 149, Issue 2Page: 144KeywordsAminotransferasesConflicts of interestDrugsHypertensionLiver function testsMetabolic syndromeStatins ePublished: 15 July 2008 Issue Published: 15 July 2008 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2008 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...