Background: Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) is produced in the small intestine and is involved in suppression of hepatic bile acid (BA) synthesis. FGF19 is also expressed in the liver and serum levels are elevated in adults with cholestatic liver disease. This may reflect a rescue mechanism to dampen liver injury caused by increased intrahepatic BAs.
Objectives: To examine circulating FGF19 at early stages of biliary atresia and at short-term follow-up post-Kasai portoenterostomy (KPE) in relation to noncholestatic infants. The relationship between FGF19, BAs and markers for BA synthesis and hepatic gene expression of factors involved in BA metabolism were also evaluated.
Methods: Liver tissue, portal and peripheral blood samples were obtained from fifteen patients at KPE; additional blood was collected 4-6 months after surgery. Two control groups were included; to examine possible changes related to surgery and to compare FGF19 in biliary atresia to noncholestatic infants.
Results: Circulating FGF19 levels correlated to its hepatic gene expression at time of KPE in biliary atresia and levels were elevated compared to noncholestatic infants. At follow-up, FGF19 levels were markedly reduced, and the decline coincided with reductions in bilirubin and conjugated chenodeoxycholic acid and with increased levels of the BA synthesis marker C4.
Conclusion: Elevated circulating FGF19 in biliary atresia is of hepatic origin and reduced following KPE. Changes in serum FGF19 may reflect the level of restoration of the enterohepatic circulation, and this warrants further long-term studies on the role of FGF19 in the cholestatic liver.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joim.13028 | DOI Listing |
Clin Immunol
January 2025
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Birth Defect, and Key Laboratory of Neonatal Disease, Ministry of Health, Shanghai 201102, China. Electronic address:
The imbalance between Tregs and proinflammatory Th17 cells in children with biliary atresia (BA) causes immune damage to cholangiocytes. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), an immunomodulatory drug, regulates the Treg/Th17 balance in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). This study explores DMF's effect on Treg/Th17 balance in BA and its potential mechanism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Pediatr Surg
January 2025
Swiss Pediatric Liver Center, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Division of Child and Adolescent Surgery, Department of Pediatrics, Gynecology, and Obstetrics, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Cholangitis, defined as the inflammation of the bile ducts, is the most frequent complication after Kasai hepatoportoenterostomy in patients with biliary atresia (BA). This review seeks to provide a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on diagnosing and managing BA-associated cholangitis while identifying gaps in the existing literature. A scoping literature review was conducted to gather global insights into the definition, evaluation, and management of post-Kasai cholangitis, illustrated through data from the Swiss Biliary Atresia Registry (SBAR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Pediatr Surg
January 2025
Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; Dr Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong - Karolinska Institutet Collaboration in Regenerative Medicine, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address:
Biliary atresia (BA) is a severe neonatal cholestatic disorder marked by fibro-obliteration of the extrahepatic and intrahepatic bile ducts. It is the most common cause of pediatric end-stage liver disease and the leading indication for liver transplantation in children. There is significant heterogeneity in the etiology, involving various genetic and environmental factors such as viral infection, immune dysregulation and genetic predisposition to defective hepatobiliary development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Pediatr Surg
January 2025
Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; The Liver Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143; Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address:
Biliary atresia is a progressive neonatal cholangiopathy that leads to liver failure. Characterized by inflammation-mediated liver injury, the immune system plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Though several types of immune cells and mediators have been implicated in animal models of biliary atresia, emerging literature reflects the complex interplay of components of the immune response that contributes to disease progression in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChildren (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS, UK.
Biliary atresia (BA) is an obliterative disease of the bile ducts affecting between 1 in 10,000-20,000 infants with a predominance in Asian countries. It is clinically heterogeneous with a number of distinct variants (e.g.
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