Bile acids and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a burgeoning health problem worldwide and an important risk factor for both hepatic and cardiometabolic mortality. The rapidly increasing prevalence of this disease and of its aggressive form nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) will require novel therapeutic approaches to prevent disease progression to advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis and cancer. In recent years, bile acids have emerged as relevant signaling molecules that act at both hepatic and extrahepatic tissues to regulate lipid and carbohydrate metabolic pathways as well as energy homeostasis. Activation or modulation of bile acid receptors, such as the farnesoid X receptor and TGR5, and transporters, such as…

• VS
  Vienna Science and Technology Fund

  Award: LS12‐008
• AS
  Austrian Science Fund

  Awards: F3517-B20, F3008, F3008-B19, F3517
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: DK56239, DK47987, F3008
• CN
  Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica

  Awards: 12/2007, PFB 12/2007
• CD
  Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile