scholarly journals Bile Acids as Hormones: The FXR-FGF15/19 Pathway

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Kliewer ◽  
David J. Mangelsdorf

While it has long been recognized that bile acids are essential for solubilizing lipophilic nutrients in the small intestine, the discovery in 1999 that bile acids serve as ligands for the nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) opened the floodgates in terms of characterizing their actions as selective signaling molecules. Bile acids act on FXR in ileal enterocytes to induce the expression of fibroblast growth factor (FGF)15/19, an atypical FGF that functions as a hormone. FGF15/19 subsequently acts on a cell surface receptor complex in hepatocytes to repress bile acid synthesis and gluconeogenesis, and to stimulate glycogen and protein synthesis. FGF15/19 also stimulates gallbladder filling. Thus, the bile acid-FXR-FGF15/19 signaling pathway regulates diverse aspects of the postprandial enterohepatic response. Pharmacologically, this endocrine pathway provides exciting new opportunities for treating metabolic disease and bile acid-related disorders such as primary biliary cirrhosis and bile acid diarrhea. Both FXR agonists and FGF19 analogs are currently in clinical trials.

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2029 ◽  
Author(s):  
John YL Chiang

Bile acids are derived from cholesterol to facilitate intestinal nutrient absorption and biliary secretion of cholesterol. Recent studies have identified bile acids as signaling molecules that activate nuclear farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and membrane G protein-coupled bile acid receptor-1 (Gpbar-1, also known as TGR5) to maintain metabolic homeostasis and protect liver and other tissues and cells from bile acid toxicity. Bile acid homeostasis is regulated by a complex mechanism of feedback and feedforward regulation that is not completely understood. This review will cover recent advances in bile acid signaling and emerging concepts about the classic and alternative bile acid synthesis pathway, bile acid composition and bile acid pool size, and intestinal bile acid signaling and gut microbiome in regulation of bile acid homeostasis.


Author(s):  
Frans Stellaard ◽  
Dieter Lütjohann

Regulation of bile acid metabolism is normally discussed as the regulation of bile acid synthesis, which serves to compensate for intestinal loss in order to maintain a constant pool size. After a meal, bile acids start cycling in the enterohepatic circulation. Farnesoid X receptor-dependent ileal and hepatic processes lead to negative feedback inhibition of bile acid synthesis. When the intestinal bile acid flux decreases, the inhibition of synthesis is released. The degree of inhibition of synthesis and the mechanism and degree of activation are still unknown. Moreover, in humans, a biphasic diurnal expression pattern of bile acid synthesis has been documented, indicating maximal synthesis around 3 pm and 9 pm. Quantitative data on the hourly synthesis schedule as compensation for intestinal loss are lacking. In this review, we describe the classical view on bile acid metabolism and present alternative concepts that are based on the overlooked feature that bile acids transit through the enterohepatic circulation very rapidly. A daily profile of the cycling and total bile acid pool sizes and potential controlled and uncontrolled mechanisms for synthesis are predicted. It remains to be elucidated by which mechanism clock genes interact with the Farnesoid X receptor-controlled regulation of bile acid synthesis. This mechanism could become an attractive target to enhance bile acid synthesis at night, when cholesterol synthesis is high, thus lowering serum LDL-cholesterol.


2021 ◽  
Vol 184 (3) ◽  
pp. R69-R83
Author(s):  
Hei Man Fan ◽  
Alice L Mitchell ◽  
Catherine Williamson

Bile acids are lipid-solubilising molecules that also regulate metabolic processes. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and Takeda G-protein coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) are two bile acid receptors with key metabolic roles. FXR regulates bile acid synthesis in the liver and influences bile acid uptake in the intestine. TGR5 is mainly involved in regulation of signalling pathways in response to bile acid uptake in the gut and therefore prandial response. Both FXR and TGR5 have potential as therapeutic targets for disorders of glucose and/or lipid homeostasis. Gestation is also known to cause small increases in bile acid concentrations, but physiological hypercholanaemia of pregnancy is usually not sufficient to cause any clinically relevant effects. This review focuses on how gestation alters bile acid homeostasis, which can become pathological if the elevation of maternal serum bile acids is more marked than physiological hypercholanaemia, and on the influence of FXR and TGR5 function in pregnancy on glucose and lipid metabolism. This will be discussed with reference to two gestational disorders: intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), a disease where bile acids are pathologically elevated, and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), characterised by hyperglycaemia during pregnancy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-353
Author(s):  
Evette B. M. Hillman ◽  
Sjoerd Rijpkema ◽  
Danielle Carson ◽  
Ramesh P. Arasaradnam ◽  
Elizabeth M. H. Wellington ◽  
...  

Bile acid diarrhoea (BAD) is a widespread gastrointestinal disease that is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome and is estimated to affect 1% of the United Kingdom (UK) population alone. BAD is associated with excessive bile acid synthesis secondary to a gastrointestinal or idiopathic disorder (also known as primary BAD). Current licensed treatment in the UK has undesirable effects and has been the same since BAD was first discovered in the 1960s. Bacteria are essential in transforming primary bile acids into secondary bile acids. The profile of an individual’s bile acid pool is central in bile acid homeostasis as bile acids regulate their own synthesis. Therefore, microbiome dysbiosis incurred through changes in diet, stress levels and the introduction of antibiotics may contribute to or be the cause of primary BAD. This literature review focuses on primary BAD, providing an overview of bile acid metabolism, the role of the human gut microbiome in BAD and the potential options for therapeutic intervention in primary BAD through manipulation of the microbiome.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7451
Author(s):  
Harpreet Kaur ◽  
Drew Seeger ◽  
Svetlana Golovko ◽  
Mikhail Golovko ◽  
Colin Kelly Combs

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive impairment. It is hypothesized to develop due to the dysfunction of two major proteins, amyloid-β (Aβ) and microtubule-associated protein, tau. Evidence supports the involvement of cholesterol changes in both the generation and deposition of Aβ. This study was performed to better understand the role of liver cholesterol and bile acid metabolism in the pathophysiology of AD. We used male and female wild-type control (C57BL/6J) mice to compare to two well-characterized amyloidosis models of AD, APP/PS1, and AppNL-G-F. Both conjugated and unconjugated primary and secondary bile acids were quantified using UPLC-MS/MS from livers of control and AD mice. We also measured cholesterol and its metabolites and identified changes in levels of proteins associated with bile acid synthesis and signaling. We observed sex differences in liver cholesterol levels accompanied by differences in levels of synthesis intermediates and conjugated and unconjugated liver primary bile acids in both APP/PS1 and AppNL-G-F mice when compared to controls. Our data revealed fundamental deficiencies in cholesterol metabolism and bile acid synthesis in the livers of two different AD mouse lines. These findings strengthen the involvement of liver metabolism in the pathophysiology of AD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 292 (26) ◽  
pp. 11055-11069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preeti Pathak ◽  
Hailiang Liu ◽  
Shannon Boehme ◽  
Cen Xie ◽  
Kristopher W. Krausz ◽  
...  

PPAR Research ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiangang Li ◽  
John Y. L. Chiang

Bile acids are amphipathic molecules synthesized from cholesterol in the liver. Bile acid synthesis is a major pathway for hepatic cholesterol catabolism. Bile acid synthesis generates bile flow which is important for biliary secretion of free cholesterol, endogenous metabolites, and xenobiotics. Bile acids are biological detergents that facilitate intestinal absorption of lipids and fat-soluble vitamins. Recent studies suggest that bile acids are important metabolic regulators of lipid, glucose, and energy homeostasis. Agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARα, PPARγ, PPARδ) regulate lipoprotein metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, glucose homeostasis and inflammation, and therefore are used as anti-diabetic drugs for treatment of dyslipidemia and insulin insistence. Recent studies have shown that activation of PPARαalters bile acid synthesis, conjugation, and transport, and also cholesterol synthesis, absorption and reverse cholesterol transport. This review will focus on the roles of PPARs in the regulation of pathways in bile acid and cholesterol homeostasis, and the therapeutic implications of using PPAR agonists for the treatment of metabolic syndrome.


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