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Bile Acids in Gastroenterology pp 145–155Cite as

Bile Acids and NAFLD/NASH

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Abstract

Bile acids (BAs) have been shown to play physiologic roles in choleresis and digestion. Recent studies, however, reveal that BAs are important signaling molecules as ligand for farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and TGR5 (GPBAR1), a G-protein-coupled receptor, and are involved in the inflammatory responses as well as metabolic regulation of lipid and glucose. BAs also inhibit gut microbial growth through their detergent property, while gut bacteria regulate bile acid biotransformation in the intestine, leading to alterations of lipid, glucose, and energy metabolism. This article reviews recent advances in the understanding of BAs signaling and its regulation of metabolic homeostasis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital, 2-1-1 Tomioka, Urayasu, Chiba, 279-0021, Japan

    Tsuneo Kitamura

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

    Tsuneo Kitamura & Sumio Watanabe

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  1. Tsuneo Kitamura
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  2. Sumio Watanabe
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Correspondence to Sumio Watanabe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Medicine, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Susumu Tazuma

  2. Department of Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Hajime Takikawa

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Kitamura, T., Watanabe, S. (2017). Bile Acids and NAFLD/NASH. In: Tazuma, S., Takikawa, H. (eds) Bile Acids in Gastroenterology. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56062-3_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56062-3_10

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