COMMENTARY
See article on page 812
Progress in idiopathic bile acid malabsorption
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Bile acid malabsorption, whether caused by an inborn absence of the ileal transport system or by resection of the terminal ileum, causes diarrhoea because of the secretory effect of malabsorbed dihydroxy bile acids in the colon. There is now increasing evidence that bile acid malabsorption is also present and plays a causal role in many patients with intermittent or chronic diarrhoea who have no ileal pathology. Many of these patients have been labelled with the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome.1 In this issue, Fracchia et al (see page 812) provide new information on this syndrome by defining biliary bile acid and lipid composition in 13 well characterised patients with idiopathic bile acid malabsorption.
Bile acids are secreted by the liver entirely in conjugated form. The
conjugated bile acid anion is impermeable to cell membranes and too
large to pass the paracellular junctions of the biliary and intestinal
tract. The highly efficient
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- Biliary lipid composition in idiopathic bile acid malabsorption
- M Fracchia, S Pellegrino, P Secreto, A Pera, and G Galatola
Gut 1998 43: 812-816.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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