Effect of D-Penicillamine on Liver Fibrosis and Inflammation in Wilson Disease

Abstract

Background: Wilson disease is a disorder of copper metabolism characterized by copper overload. A mutation in the ATP7B gene causes dysfunction of ATP7B protein and a reduction in copper excretion into the bile in hepatocytes. Excess copper accumulation leads to liver injury. D-penicillamine primarily can inhibit fibrogenesis and prevent the appearance of scar lesions in the liver. We studied this phenomenon in our patients.

Materials and Methods: Pathology slides from the explanted livers of 26 patients diagnosed as having Wilson disease with hepatoneurologic manifestations between 2000 and 2008 who had undergone a liver transplant were investigated retrospectively. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to their history of D-penicillamine use before transplant. The degree of fibrosis and inflammation were classified as mild (1), moderate (2), and severe (3), and were reviewed by an impartial hepato­pathologist.

Results: Of 26 patients (20 male, 6 female) who had Wilson disease with a mean age of 17.6 ± 8.6 years, 69% (18/26) had a history of D-penicillamine use before liver transplant from 6 months to 9 years (mean, 3.4 ± 2.7 years). In the D-penicillamine group, 14 patients (77%) had grade 1 fibrosis. Grade 2 and 3 fibrosis was seen in 5.6% and 16% of patients, respectively. In D-penicillamine group, inflammation was grade 3 in 44% (8/18), grade 2 in 44% (8/18), and grade 1 in 11% of the patients (2/18). In the non–D-penicillamine group (8 patients), grades of fibrosis were grade 3 (62%), grade 2 (25%), and grade 1 (12%); 87% of the patients had grade 2 and 3 inflammation. The degree of fibrosis was significantly lower in the D-penicillamine group than it was in the non–D-penicillamine group (P < .05).

Conclusion: D-penicillamine may reduce the rate of liver fibrogenesis in patients with Wilson disease.