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

2

$15 million bequest supports endowed chair at UC College of Medicine

May 19, 2026

As a student and resident at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, George G. Bemis, Jr., MD, Med ’64, saw firsthand that medicine was more than a profession for those teaching and leading him. Inspired by their sense of calling, he knew he wanted to pursue the same path.

3

Pocket-sized population threat

May 18, 2026

The Financial Times took a deep dive into why populations around the world continue to be on the decline. The publication cited new University of Cincinnati research as part of the investigation that looks at the fall of fertility in the digital era.