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A Silver Nanoparticle Method for Ameliorating Biliary Atresia Syndrome in Mice
Published on: October 13, 2018
Biliatresone: progress in biliary atresia study
Jia-Jie Zhu1, Yi-Fan Yang1, Rui Dong1
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Birth Defect, and Key Laboratory of Neonatal Disease, Ministry of Health, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wan Yuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China.
Insights
Biliatresone, a compound found in vegetables, may contribute to biliary atresia (BA) in infants. Glutathione (GSH) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) are key factors, suggesting diet and gut flora play a role in BA development.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Toxicology
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
Background:
- Biliary atresia (BA) is a leading cause of neonatal end-stage liver disease.
- Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent irreversible liver fibrosis within two months.
- The comprehensive etiology of BA remains largely unknown, with theories including viral infections, immune disorders, and genetic defects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize recent research on biliatresone's role in biliary atresia (BA).
- To investigate whether biliatresone can offer insights into the etiology of human BA.
- To explore the involvement of glutathione (GSH) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) in BA pathogenesis.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a PubMed search using keywords: "biliary atresia", "biliatresone", "GSH", and "HSP90".
- Extracted relevant data from published articles and supplementary materials.
- Synthesized findings to propose a new pathogenic hypothesis for BA.
Main Results:
- Biliatresone demonstrated toxicity in animal models (zebrafish, mice).
- Pathogenic factors identified include glutathione (GSH), heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), and associated pathways.
- A hypothesis suggests BA occurrence may be linked to biliatresone or similar compounds from vegetables and altered intestinal flora.
Conclusions:
- Glutathione (GSH) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) are implicated in BA development.
- Maternal diet (high vegetable intake) and altered intestinal flora may contribute to BA, potentially explaining higher incidence in Asian populations.
- Further large-scale epidemiological research is required to validate these findings.
Background:
Biliary atresia (BA) is one of the main causes of neonatal end-stage liver disease. Without timely diagnosis and treatment, most children with BA will develop irreversible liver fibrosis within the first two months. While current theorized causes of BA include viral infection, immune disorders, and genetic defects, the comprehensive etiology is still largely unknown. Recently, biliatresone attracted much interest for its ability to induce BA in both zebrafish and mice, so we summarized the latest progress of biliatresone research in BA and tried to answer the question of whether it could provide further clues to the etiology of human BA.
Data Sources:
We conducted a PubMed search for any published articles related to the topic using search terms including "biliary atresia", "biliatresone", "GSH", and "HSP90". Relevant data were extracted from the original text or supplementary materials of the corresponding articles.
Results:
Biliatresone had shown its unique toxicity in multiple species such as zebrafish and mice, and pathogenic factors involved included glutathione (GSH), heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and the related pathways. In combination with epidemiological evidence and recent studies on the intestinal flora in biliary atresia, a new pathogenic hypothesis that the occurrence of biliary atresia is partly due to biliatresone or its structure-like compounds depositing in human body via vegetables or/and the altered intestinal flora structure can be tentatively established.
Conclusions:
Based on the existing evidence, we emphasized that GSH and HSP90 are involved in the development of BA, and the maternal diet, especially higher vegetable intake of Asian women of childbearing age, accompanied by the altered intestinal flora structure, may contribute to the occurrence of biliary atresia and the higher incidence in the Asia group. However, the evidence from large sample epidemiological research is necessary.
