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Obeticholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis in adult patients: clinical utility and patient selection.

ABSTRACT: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), previously known as primary biliary "cirrhosis", is a rare autoimmune liver disease characterized by the hallmark autoantibodies to mitochondrial antigens and immune-mediated destruction of small bile duct epithelial cells leading to cholestasis and cirrhosis. Surprisingly, while immune modulators have not been effective in the treatment of PBC, supplementation with the hydrophilic bile acid (BA) ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been demonstrated to slow the disease progression. However, a significant minority of PBC patients do not have a complete response to UDCA and remain at risk of continued disease progression. Although the mechanisms of action are not well understood, UDCA provided proof of concept for BA therapy in PBC. Obeticholic acid (OCA), a novel derivative of the human BA chenodeoxycholic acid, is a potent agonist of the nuclear hormone receptor farnesoid X receptor, which regulates BA synthesis and transport. A series of clinical trials of OCA in PBC, primarily in combination with UDCA, have established that OCA leads to significant reductions in serum alkaline phosphatase that are predicted to lead to improved clinical outcomes, while dose-dependent pruritus has been the most common adverse effect. On the basis of these studies, OCA was given conditional approval by the US Food and Drug Administration with plans to establish the long-term clinical efficacy of OCA in patients with advanced PBC.

SUBMITTER: Bowlus CL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5012622 | biostudies-other | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Obeticholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis in adult patients: clinical utility and patient selection.

Bowlus Christopher L CL

Hepatic medicine : evidence and research 20160901

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), previously known as primary biliary "cirrhosis", is a rare autoimmune liver disease characterized by the hallmark autoantibodies to mitochondrial antigens and immune-mediated destruction of small bile duct epithelial cells leading to cholestasis and cirrhosis. Surprisingly, while immune modulators have not been effective in the treatment of PBC, supplementation with the hydrophilic bile acid (BA) ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been demonstrated to slow the dis ...[more]

PMID: 27621676

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Project description:Purpose of reviewPrimary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is characterized by autoimmune damage of intrahepatic bile ducts associated with a loss of tolerance to mitochondrial antigens. PBC etiopathogenesis is intriguing because of different perplexing features, namely: a) although mitochondria are present in all cell types and tissues, the damage is mainly restricted to biliary epithelial cells (BECs); b) despite being an autoimmune disorder, it does not respond to immunosuppressive drugs but rather to ursodeoxycholic acid, a bile salt that induces HCO3- rich choleresis; c) the overwhelming female preponderance of the disease remains unexplained. Here we present an etiopathogenic view of PBC which sheds light on these puzzling facts of the disease.Recent findingsPBC develops in patients with genetic predisposition to autoimmunity in whom epigenetic mechanisms silence the Cl-/HCO3- exchanger AE2 in both cholangiocytes and lymphoid cells. Defective AE2 function can produce BECs damage as a result of decreased biliary HCO3- secretion with disruption of the protective alkaline umbrella that normally prevents the penetration of toxic apolar bile salts into cholangiocytes. AE2 dysfunction also causes increased intracellular pH (pHi) in cholangiocytes, leading to the activation of soluble adenylyl cyclase, which sensitizes BECs to bile salt-induced apoptosis. Recently, mitophagy was found to be inhibited by cytosolic alkalization and stimulated by acidification. Accordingly, we propose that AE2 deficiency may disturb mitophagy in BECs, thus, promoting the accumulation of defective mitochondria, oxidative stress and presentation of mitochondrial antigens to the immune cells. As women possess a more acidic endolysosomal milieu than men, mitophagy might be more affected in women in an AE2-defective background. Apart from affecting BECs function, AE2 downregulation in lymphocytes may also contribute to alter immunoregulation facilitating autoreactive T-cell responses.SummaryPBC can be considered as a disorder of Cl-/HCO3- exchange in individuals with genetic predisposition to autoimmunity.

Dataset Information

Obeticholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis in adult patients: clinical utility and patient selection.

Publications

Obeticholic acid for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis in adult patients: clinical utility and patient selection.

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