A new study in mice suggests that ibuprofen, perhaps the most common pain relief medication, could affect aspects of liver health.
Ibuprofen is a common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). In the United States, drugstores tend to sell the brand-name versions Motrin or Advil.
In the U.S. and other countries, ibuprofen is readily available over the counter. People tend to use it to relieve pain or the symptoms of a mild cold.
Like any other drug, ibuprofen can have side effects. One of them is liver damage, though this is rare.
And now, a new study in mice — from researchers at the University of California, Davis — suggests that ibuprofen’s adverse effect on liver health may be more significant than doctors suspect.
“The liver plays a key role in energy metabolism and is essential for whole-body homeostasis [the stabilization of bodily functions] via the regulation of glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism,” the researchers explain in their study paper, which appears in Scientific Reports.
The liver is the body’s key filter, processing elements of everything we ingest, including drugs. As a result, medication can have unintended effects on the liver.
To determine the true capacity of ibuprofen to cause liver problems, the researchers regularly administered moderate amounts of ibuprofen to mice for 1 week.
The drug dosage was the equivalent of an adult human taking around 486 milligrams of ibuprofen per d