Medscape: Mild Liver Enzyme Increases Seen in COVID-19 Patients in China

UC digestive diseases expert discusses COVID-19's impact on the liver

Close to 30% of COVID-19 patients presented with mildly elevated liver enzymes in a retrospective study in China. Enzyme levels did not rise significantly during hospitalization and no patients experienced liver failure, however. Kenneth Sherman, MD, PhD, Director of the UC Division of Digestive Diseases and UC Health physician, spoke with journalist Marilynn Larkin about possible liver damage associated with SARS-CoV-2 and how pre-existing liver disease could make individuals more susceptible to infection leading to COVID-19.

Read the entire interview online.

Learn more about Sherman's COVID-19 research.

Featured image at top: Kenneth Sherman, MD, PhD, shown in the UC College of Medicine. Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand.

Next Lives Here

The University of Cincinnati is classified as a Research 1 institution by the Carnegie Commission and is ranked in the National Science Foundation's Top-35 public research universities. UC's graduate students and faculty investigate problems and innovate solutions with real-world impact. Next Lives Here.

Related Stories

1

Make Hoxworth Blood Center’s special holiday events part of your family celebrations this December

December 12, 2025

This December, Hoxworth Blood Center, University of Cincinnati, is inviting families across Greater Cincinnati to add something truly meaningful to their holiday traditions: giving the gift of life. With festive community events, beloved local partners and special thank-you gifts for donors, Hoxworth is making it easier, and more heartwarming than ever, to roll up your sleeves and help save lives close to home.

2

Ohio nurses weigh in on proposed federal loan rule

December 12, 2025

Spectrum News journalist Javari Burnett spoke with UC Dean Alicia Ribar and UC nursing students Megan Romero and Nevaeh Haskins about proposed new federal student loan rules. Romero and Haskins, both seniors, were filmed in the College of Nursing’s Simulation Lab.