The bile acid-activated nuclear receptor Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) is critical in maintaining intestinal barrier integrity and preventing bacterial overgrowth. Patients with Crohn's colitis (CC) exhibit reduced ileal FXR target gene expression. FXR agonists have been shown to ameliorate inflammation
Orally administered UDCA dramatically reduces the secretion of cholesterol into the bile. During UDCA therapy cholesterol balance is maintained by a reduction in both the relative and absolute absorption of cholesterol and, perhaps, by a combined moderate enhancement of bile
Archives of internal medicine, 159(22), 2647-2658 (1999-12-22)
Bile acids, the water-soluble, amphipathic end products of cholesterol metabolism, are involved in liver, biliary, and intestinal disease. Formed in the liver, bile acids are absorbed actively from the small intestine, with each molecule undergoing multiple enterohepatic circulations before being
Obeticholic acid (OCA; INT-747, 6α-ethyl-chenodeoxycholic acid) is a semisynthetic derivative of the primary human bile acid chenodeoxycholic acid, the natural agonist of the farnesoid X receptor, which is a nuclear hormone receptor that regulates glucose and lipid metabolism. In animal
The pathogenesis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) can be related to abnormalities in the metabolism and disposition of sex hormones and/or bile acids, determined by a genetic predisposition interacting with environmental factors. The total amount of oestrogens and progesterone
