2011胆汁酸信号与肝脏代谢和疾病.pdf

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Lipids Volume 2012, Article ID 754067, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2012/754067 Review Article Bile Acid Signaling in LiverMetabolism and Diseases Tiangang Li and John Y. L. Chiang Department of Integrative Medical Sciences, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, OH 44272, USA Correspondence should be addressed to John Y. L. Chiang, jchiang@neoucom.edu Received 10 June 2011; Accepted 4 August 2011 Academic Editor: WilliamM. Pandak Copyright ? 2012 T. Li and J. Y. L. Chiang. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndromes are increasingly recognized as health concerns worldwide. Overnutrition and insulin resistance are the major causes of diabetic hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in humans. Studies in the past decade provide evi- dence that bile acids are not just biological detergents facilitating gut nutrient absorption, but also important metabolic regulators of glucose and lipid homeostasis. Pharmacological alteration of bile acid metabolism or bile acid signaling pathways such as using bile acid receptor agonists or bile acid binding resins may be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of obesity and diabetes. On the other hand, bile acid signaling is complex, and the molecular mechanisms mediating the bile acid effects are still not completely understood. This paper will summarize recent advances in our understanding of bile acid signaling in regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, and the potentials of developing novel therapeutic strategies that target bile acid metabolism for the treatment of metabolic disorders. 1. Introduction Bile acids are produced only in the liver as the end products of cholesterol catabolism [1, 2]. In addition to the classic function of bile acids in facilitating hep