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Biliary tract

Newly identified biliatresone causes biliary atresia

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 12, page 369 (2015)Cite this article

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Research from Michael Pack and Rebecca Wells' groups published in Science Translational Medicine, has shed new light onto the aetiology of biliary atresia. Isolation of a previously unidentified isoflavonoid, biliatresone, from Dysphania plants has been found to cause damage to the extrahepatic biliary system in zebrafish larvae. These larvae develop a phenotype similar to that of human biliary atresia.

Biliary atresia, a progressive disease of extrahepatic bile ducts (EHBD), although rare, is the primary indication for liver transplantation in the paediatric population. Therapeutic options are limited; the mainstays of treatment are surgical, with no targeted medical therapies. The lack of treatment options is partly attributable to our incomplete understanding of the aetiology and pathogenesis of biliary atresia. So far, evidence implicates both genetic and environmental causes of disease.

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References

  1. Lorent, K. et al. Identification of a plant isoflavonoid that causes biliary atresia. Sci. Transl. Med. 7, 286ra67 (2015)

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Authors
  1. Gillian Patman
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Patman, G. Newly identified biliatresone causes biliary atresia. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 12, 369 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2015.91

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