The therapeutic effects of ursodeoxycholic acid as an anti-apoptotic agent
- 1 July 2001
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs
- Vol. 10 (7) , 1243-1253
- https://doi.org/10.1517/13543784.10.7.1243
Abstract
The dihydroxy bile acid, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), has been in widespread clinical use in the Western world since the mid 1980s, when it was initially used for gallstone dissolution [1,2] and subsequently for the treatment of chronic cholestatic liver diseases [3,4]. Many clinical trials of UDCA in a variety of cholestatic disorders established biochemical and clinical improvements, and most importantly showed a significant prolongation of transplant-free survival after four years of treatment with UDCA in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis [5]. Despite its clinical efficacy, the precise mechanism(s) by which UDCA improves liver function during cholestasis is still a matter of debate [6]. It was initially considered that the choleretic effect of UDCA, coupled with its ability to cause a marked shift in the composition of the bile acid pool towards hydrophilicity, accounted for its mechanism of action. In recent years, however, it has become evident that UDCA and its conjugated derivatives are capa...Keywords
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