As mentioned in the first part of the previous interview HCP liveThe function and role of bile acids in liver disease is an emerging area of research that deserves more investment and clinical application.
A key question that experts are trying to answer in the current study is which protein category is relevant not just to the liver, but to overall gut health.
In the second part of a panel interview this weekend during the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2023 Liver Conference in Boston, three scientists working in the field of liver research discuss strategies and pathways for applying bile acids to clinical care. Strategy Research. Experts include:
- Grace Guo, MBBS, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University
- Huiping Zhou, PhD, MS, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Virginia, VCU
- Olivier Barbier, Ph.D., Research Center Université Laval, Quebec
Zhou highlighted recent research by her colleagues that sought to understand not only serum bile acids but also the role of microbially mediated bile acids in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
“So we already have interesting data that suggest specific components of bile acids, which are associated with liver disease,” Zhou said. “So overall, you can see this modulation of bile acids, but if you compare NASH to alcoholic liver disease patients…then we can already see some of the bile acid profiles that are specific to NASH or alcohol-related liver disease. trend. So I think that’s a starting point.”
Zhou explained that broader and more reliable patient data are needed to help differentiate bile acid profiles so that panels can be customized to help identify biomarkers for one liver disease versus another, as well as to understand disease prognosis.
Guo notes that only about 20 percent of known human bile acid types have been fully analyzed—“but what do the rest of the bile acids do in our bodies?
“What types of correlation algorithms should be developed in the future to use bile acids for diagnosis, prognosis and even treatment?” Guo suggested. “It’s very sad that many current drugs targeting bile acids either fail or are stopped early on, but that’s because bile acids are not well understood.”
Barbier highlighted part of the group’s workshop at the Liver Conference, which discussed the relationship between bile acids and the microbiome and how targeting the microbiome can help “not only identify bile acids in liver disease progression, but also help To further understand how this process occurs.” “Bile acids could be used as pharmaceutical treatments.”
Barbier mentioned that another part of the symposium discussed the positive impact of changes in microbiota function on liver disease.
On the topic of promoting intestinal health in patients with liver disease, Zhou noted the challenges faced by the disease sector, e.g. Clostridium difficilewhich turns infections exacerbated by intestinal damage into an opportunity to develop highly effective live microbiota therapies.
“We still have a lot of questions about how to control and make sure these treatments are actually beneficial to patients… We still have a lot of work to do to understand the entire community in the gut, not just the bacteria,” Zhou said. “We have other Microbes – they really determine the overall outcome in the gut. “
A key component in unlocking ways to help patients fully understand bile acids is to better understand their overall interaction with the microbiome.
“Secondary or tertiary bile acids are produced in the microbiome; the presence of certain classes of secondary bile acids in the circulation – what do they really do to the body, or do they actually reflect the function of the microbiome , especially in the intestine?” Guo said.