Bile Acids in Health and Disease

Bile acids are essential for a healthy life. They are often referred to as ‘soaps’ produced by our bodies and to help absorb fat-soluble nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, from the intestine. Additionally, bile acids function like hormones by interacting with various receptor proteins both on the outside and inside of cells as they circulate through our bodies. These interactions help maintain metabolic balance by regulating glucose and lipid metabolism and also influence immune responses. However, the beneficial effects of bile acids are only present when their concentrations are kept within certain limits. If bile acid levels become too high, their soap-like properties make them toxic to the body’s organs and tissues.

Defects in bile acid metabolism or in the proteins that transport bile acid molecules through our body can cause bile acid levels to become dangerously high. This can lead to cholestatic liver diseases and other metabolic problems. Our lab aims to modify bile acid transport or metabolism as therapeutic strategies for treating cholestatic and metabolic liver diseases.

We try to unlock the secrets of bile acids to:

• Learn more about the role of bile acids in health and disease
• Ameliorate the severe symptoms of patients with cholestatic liver diseases and increase their quality of life
• Postpone or even prevent the need of a liver transplantation that many of the patients suffering from a cholestatic liver disease need
• Unravel the interactions between bile acids, the gut microbiome and the host
• Modulate bile acid metabolism to achieve metabolic benefit