[Metabolism of bile salts. 2 - The cholanopathies (author's transl)]

A better understanding of the mechanisms of bile acid metabolism, coupled with advances in methodology, has shown the major part played by bile salts in the pathogenesis of several diseases, such as cholesterol cholelithiasis, secretory diarrhoea and/or steatorrhoea associated with diseases of the small intestine, etc. This in turn has helped to develop effective medical treatments for some of these conditions. Considerable progress has also been made in determining the abnormalities in bile acid metabolism found in parenchymal and cholestatic liver diseases and in rare conditions associated with inborn errors in bile acid synthesis. The clinician's approach to diagnosis and treatment has thus been thoroughly modified by improved knowledge of bile acid metabolism.