Abstract

Quantitative trait mapping identified a locus colocalizing with L-Fabp, encoding liver fatty acid binding protein, as a positional candidate for murine gallstone susceptibility. When fed a lithogenic diet (LD) for 2 weeks, L-Fabp-/- mice became hypercholesterolemic with increased hepatic VLDL cholesterol secretion. Seventy-five percent of L-Fabp-/- mice developed solid gallstones compared with 6% of wild-type mice with an increased gallstone score (3.29 versus 0.62, respectively; P, 0.01). Hepatic free cholesterol content, biliary cholesterol secretion, and the cholesterol saturation index of hepatic bile were increased in LD-fed L-Fabp-/- mice. Chow-fed L-Fabp-/- mice demonstrated increased fecal bile acid (BA) excretion accompanied by decreased ileal Asbt expression. By contrast, there was an increased BA pool and decreased fecal BA excretion in LD-fed L-Fabp-/- mice, associated with increased proximal intestinal Asbt mRNA expression, suggesting that intestinal BA absorption was enhanced in LD-fed L-Fabp-/- mice. The increase in biliary BA secretion and enterohepatic pool size in LD-fed L-Fabp-/- mice was accompanied by downregulation of Cyp7a1 mRNA and increased intestinal mRNA abundance of Fgf-15, Fxr, and Fabp6. These findings suggest that changes in hepatic cholesterol metabolism and biliary lipid secretion as well as changes in enterohepatic BA metabolism increase gallstone susceptibility in LD fed L-Fabp-/- mice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)977-987
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of lipid research
Volume50
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2009

Keywords

  • Bile acid metabolism
  • Cholesterol absorption
  • Enterohepatic lipid flux
  • Genetic susceptibility
  • Hepatic steatosis
  • Quantitative trait locus

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