Case report of glucosamine-chondroitin induced hepatotoxicity in a public hospital in Lima, Peru

Torres W.Z.; Rentería J.L.G. · Revista Colombiana de Gastroenterologia (2020) · DOI: 10.22516/25007440.325

Resumen

The human body naturally produces glucosamine and chondroitin which are important components of the cartilaginous system. There are multiple clinical indications for them as medicines, but they are primarily used for osteoarthritis. Hepatotoxicity induced by these biomolecules is uncommon, and the only reports in the world literature are isolated individual cases. This article presents the case of a patient with glucosamine-chondroitin-induced hepatocellular damage who was admitted to the hospital with respiratory symptoms and malaise. Marked hypertransaminemia was found in laboratory tests. Etiologies such as alcohol, viral hepatitis and autoimmune liver diseases were ruled out, and abdominal ultrasound found no evidence of chronic liver disease. Discontinuance of glucosamine and chondroitin led to a considerable decrease in hypertransami-nemia after one week with total improvement two months of hospital discharge. This case adds to the small number reported worldwide and is relevant for future systematic studies to clarify the outlook for this disease.