Acute severe liver dysfunction induced by febuxostat in a patient undergoing hemodialysis

A 58-year-old man with chronic kidney disease (CKD) was admitted to our hospital for hemodialysis (HD) therapy. He had been administered allopurinol (100 mg/day) before hospitalization, and we replaced it with febuxostat (10 mg/day), a new xanthine oxidase inhibitor. Levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase were within the normal ranges in the morning before febuxostat administration, but 6 h after administration, these parameters increased markedly to approximately 10 times the levels before administration. Although we stopped administering febuxostat, his serum potassium levels increased at a rate of 1 mmol/L every 12 h, and he had to undergo HD daily to lower the serum potassium levels. The levels of liver function test parameters peaked on the fourth hospital day (ALT, 1134 IU/L; AST, 1485 IU/L; and LDH, 1869 IU/L) and recovered to normal ranges on the 13th hospital day. In this case, febuxostat appeared to have a relationship with acute liver dysfunction in the clinical course. Therefore, it would be important to check liver function test parameters frequently after febuxostat initiation and also to initiate a lower than usual dose of febuxostat, especially in patients with CKD and those who are undergoing HD.