Drug-induced cholestasis is a slowing of the flow of bile from the liver that results from medication use.

Cholestasis - drug-induced

Bile is produced in the liver, moved via the bile duct to the gallbladder, and released into the gut through the biliary tract. It helps the body digest fats.

Certain drugs can slow or stop the flow of bile from the liver to the gallbladder and gut, which may damage the liver.

Many drugs can cause cholestasis, including:

• Ampicillin and other penicillin-based antibiotics
• Anabolic steroids
• Chlorpromazine
• Cimetidine
• Erythromycin estolate
• Estradiol
• Gold salts
• Imipramine
• Nitrofurantoin
• Oral contraceptives
• Prochlorperazine
• Sulindac
• Terbinafine
• Tolbutamide

Images

Bile pathway

Review Date: 05/04/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, CA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)