Key Protein May Protect Against Bile-Linked Disorders

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A gut protein could help protect people with conditions such as obstructive jaundice or irritable bowel syndrome from dangerous infection or intestinal breakdown, a new study finds.

The protein, called FXR, binds to bile in the small intestine. Bile is generated by the liver and flows via a duct into the small intestine. Bile contains acids that help the body absorb nutrients, kill bacteria, and help keep the lining of the intestine intact. This lining provides a major barrier against infectious organisms.

However, people with obstructive jaundice and certain other conditions have no bile in their intestine. This leads to a breakdown of the intestine''s lining, allowing bacteria to pass through into the body. The result can be sepsis, a very serious blood infection.

Giving bile acids orally is not a good solution because they can cause liver damage, experts noted.

However, in tests with mice, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas found that using a synthetic binding chemical called GW4064 to activate FXR led to the activation of several genes that either protect the intestinal lining or attack bacteria.

"What we''ve identified is one of the mechanisms for how the body keeps the number of bacteria low in the small intestine, and how it prevents them from getting into other organs," study senior author Dr. Steven Kliewer, a professor of molecular biology, explained in a prepared statement.

The study appears in this week''s online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Drugs designed to bind to FXR may help treat various conditions of the small intestine, Kliewer said.

More information

The U.S. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse has more about digestive diseases.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: UT Southwestern, news release, Feb. 6, 2006

Last Updated: Feb. 10, 2006