Clinical features and potential mechanism of coronavirus disease 2019-associated liver injury

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,has posed a serious threat to global public health security.With the increase in the number of confirmed cases globally,the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of COVID-19 an international public health emergency.Despite atypical pneumonia as the primary symptom,liver dysfunction has also been observed in many clinical cases and is associated with the mortality risk in patients with COVID-19,like severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome.Here we will provide a schematic overview of the clinical characteristics and the possible mechanisms of liver injury caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection,which may provide help for optimizing the management of liver injury and reducing mortality in COVID-19 patients.