Re: A new piece of the PSC puzzle discovered

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori;

Cholic acid is made in our own livers from cholesterol. In the

intestine it can get converted to deoxycholate by bacteria.

The 'normal' amount of cholic acid in the bile of PSC patients not

treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is 61% of the total bile

acids.

This amount of cholic acid in the bile is reduced to about 16% of the

total bile acids when PSC patients are treated with 22-25 mg/kg/day of

ursodeoxycholic acid.

So ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA; urso) is a good way of reducing cholic

acid levels in the bile:

Rost D, Rudolph G, Kloeters-Plachky P, Stiehl A 2004 Effect of high-

dose ursodeoxycholic acid on its biliary enrichment in primary

sclerosing cholangitis. Hepatology 40: 693-698.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/109606288/PDFSTART

And so here we are again talking about the benefits of urso in PSC!

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (23); PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)

>

> , thanks for your response!  How do we consume the Cholic Acid

or Bile Acid or is it just in our system already?  How can we prevent

this Cholic Acid that converts into deoxycholic acid?

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori;

That's a good question but tough to answer! Cholesterol can be

obtained from the diet, and most PSCers seem to benefit from a low

fat/low cholesterol diet. But cholesterol can also be made in our own

bodies, and the first step in cholesterol synthesis is the one that

is blocked by statins.

Can I recommend that you read this article on primary biliary

cirrhosis and hypercholesterolemia?

Balmer M, Dufour J (2008) Treatment of hypercholesterolemia in

patients with primary biliary cirrhosis might be more beneficial than

indicated. Swiss Med Wkly. 138: 415-429.

http://www.smw.ch/docs/pdf200x/2008/29/smw-12311.pdf

It discusses the treatment options for high cholesterol in PBC. It

talks about statins, fibrates and ursodeoxycholic acid as cholesterol

lowering agents. In PBC, urso reduces cholesterol levels, and this

would tend also to lower the production of potential toxic bile

acids. Fibrates seem to have a beneficial effect not only on

lipid/cholesterol levels, but also in improving liver function tests

in PBC patients.

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (23; PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori;

That's a good question but tough to answer! Cholesterol can be

obtained from the diet, and most PSCers seem to benefit from a low

fat/low cholesterol diet. But cholesterol can also be made in our own

bodies, and the first step in cholesterol synthesis is the one that

is blocked by statins.

Can I recommend that you read this article on primary biliary

cirrhosis and hypercholesterolemia?

Balmer M, Dufour J (2008) Treatment of hypercholesterolemia in

patients with primary biliary cirrhosis might be more beneficial than

indicated. Swiss Med Wkly. 138: 415-429.

http://www.smw.ch/docs/pdf200x/2008/29/smw-12311.pdf

It discusses the treatment options for high cholesterol in PBC. It

talks about statins, fibrates and ursodeoxycholic acid as cholesterol

lowering agents. In PBC, urso reduces cholesterol levels, and this

would tend also to lower the production of potential toxic bile

acids. Fibrates seem to have a beneficial effect not only on

lipid/cholesterol levels, but also in improving liver function tests

in PBC patients.

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (23; PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)

[Guest guest]

Hi Lori;

That's a good question but tough to answer! Cholesterol can be

obtained from the diet, and most PSCers seem to benefit from a low

fat/low cholesterol diet. But cholesterol can also be made in our own

bodies, and the first step in cholesterol synthesis is the one that

is blocked by statins.

Can I recommend that you read this article on primary biliary

cirrhosis and hypercholesterolemia?

Balmer M, Dufour J (2008) Treatment of hypercholesterolemia in

patients with primary biliary cirrhosis might be more beneficial than

indicated. Swiss Med Wkly. 138: 415-429.

http://www.smw.ch/docs/pdf200x/2008/29/smw-12311.pdf

It discusses the treatment options for high cholesterol in PBC. It

talks about statins, fibrates and ursodeoxycholic acid as cholesterol

lowering agents. In PBC, urso reduces cholesterol levels, and this

would tend also to lower the production of potential toxic bile

acids. Fibrates seem to have a beneficial effect not only on

lipid/cholesterol levels, but also in improving liver function tests

in PBC patients.

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (23; PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)