Hepatic toxicity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and those with psoriasis taking methotrexate therapy

Abstract EN

Background : this study is to demonstrate the adverse hepatic effects of MTX in patients taking MTX for treatment of RA and psoriasis taking in consideration the following variables : BMI, gender, cumulative dose, age, weekly dose, duration of treatment, serum level of cholesterol and creatinine.

Patients and methods this is a prospective study of 85 patients with RA and 50 patients with psoriasis.

All patients were analyzed by history, clinical examination and investigations in the form of liver enzymes, blood sugar, serum cholesterol, serum creatinine, HBS Ag and anti HCV antibody.

Persistently elevated level of liver enzymes 2 to 3 times the upper limit of normal on two occasions 3 months apart indicate hepatic toxicity Results : the study results found that 7 patients with psoriasis and 6 patients with RA have significant elevated liver enzymes which reflect MTX hepatotoxicity Conclusion : our study showed that patients with psoriasis at significantly greater risk of elevated liver enzymes than patient with RA (14% and 7% respectively) were BMI, cumulative dose; weekly dose and serum cholesterol level are risk factors for hepatic toxicity due to MTX therapy.