The bile acid receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a key regulator of hepatic defense mechanisms against bile acids. A comprehensive study addressing the role of FXR in the coordinated regulation of adaptive mechanisms including biosynthesis, metabolism, and alternative export together with their functional significance is lacking. We therefore fed FXR knockout (FXR(-/-)) mice with cholic aci...

Major ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)-based therapies for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) include UDCA only, or combined with either methotrexate (MTX), corticosteroids (COT), colchicine (COC), or bezafibrate (BEF). As the optimum treatment regimen is unclear and warrants exploration, we aimed to compare these therapies in terms of patient mortality or liver transplantation (MOLT) and adverse event...

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a hydrophilic bile acid, has been shown to inhibit mitogenic signaling and suppressing cell proliferation in colonic tumorigenesis. The transcription of DLC1 (deleted in liver cancer), a tumor suppressor gene, is frequently silenced in various types of human cancer. In this study, we postulated that UDCA may inhibit DLC1 protein degradation in hepatocellular carcino...

It is a well-known that significant part in the structure of digestive system diseases children compounds disorders biliary tract, which are based on violations regulation bile production and secretion. The topical issue search for safe effective drugs can prevent transformation into organic pathology, including cholecystitis, gallstone disease. One such ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), actively us...

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), previously known as primary biliary "cirrhosis", is a rare autoimmune liver disease characterized by the hallmark autoantibodies to mitochondrial antigens and immune-mediated destruction of small bile duct epithelial cells leading to cholestasis and cirrhosis. Surprisingly, while immune modulators have not been effective in the treatment of PBC, supplementatio...

BACKGROUND Whether ileal absorption of bile acid is up or downregulated in chronic cholestasis is still debated, and most evidence has come from animal studies. AIMS To compare ileal bile acid absorption in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and in healthy control subjects, and to assess the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). PATIENTS We studied 14 PBC patients before and dur...

BACKGROUND Kupffer cells are essential for normal hepatic homeostasis and when stimulated, they secrete reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, eicosanoids, and cytokines. Some of these products are cytotoxic and attack nucleic acids, thiol proteins, or membrane lipids causing lipid peroxidation. Hydrophobic bile acids, such as deoxycholic acid (DCA), can damage hepatocytes by solubilising membr...

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic autoimmune cholestatic liver disease that predominantly affects women in early to middle age. It is typically associated with autoantibodies to mitochondrial antigens and results in immune-mediated destruction of small and medium-sized intrahepatic bile ducts leading to cholestasis, hepatic fibrosis and may progress to cirrhosis or hepatic failure ...

Over the past decades, there has been a clear trend towards an increase in number of patients suffering from cholelithiasis, especially among persons working age. At same time, early phase disease (biliary sludge), which commonly proceeds without clinical symptoms, acquires greatest relevance. Besides, cholelithiasis course can also be accompanied by biliary dyskinesia, accelerates process calc...

Cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), the rate-limiting enzyme in the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids, is a postulated gene modifier of colorectal cancer risk and target for the therapeutic bile acid, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). We investigated associations between CYP7A1 polymorphisms and fecal bile acids, colorectal adenoma (CRA), and UDCA efficacy for CRA prevention. Seven tagging, s...