Gallstone | EPFL Graph Search

A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of migrated gallstones within bile ducts. Most people with gallstones (about 80%) are asymptomatic. However, when a gallstone obstructs the bile duct and causes acute cholestasis, a reflexive smooth muscle spasm often occurs, resulting in an intense cramp-like visceral pain in the right upper part of the abdomen known as a biliary colic (or "gallbladder attack"). This happens in 1–4% of those with gallstones each year. Complications from gallstones may include inflammation of the gallbladder (cholecystitis), inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), obstructive jaundice, and infection in bile ducts (cholangitis). Symptoms of these complications may include pain that lasts longer than five hours, fever, yellowish skin, vomiting, dark urine, and pale stools. Risk factors for gallstones include birth control pills, pregnancy, a family history of gallstones, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, or rapid weight loss. The bile components that form gallstones include cholesterol, bile salts, and bilirubin. Gallstones formed mainly from cholesterol are termed cholesterol stones, and those formed mainly from bilirubin are termed pigment stones. Gallstones may be suspected based on symptoms. Diagnosis is then typically confirmed by ultrasound. Complications may be detected using blood tests. The risk of gallstones may be decreased by maintaining a healthy weight with exercise and a healthy diet. If there are no symptoms, treatment is usually not needed. In those who are having gallbladder attacks, surgery to remove the gallbladder is typically recommended. This can be carried out either through several small incisions or through a single larger incision, usually under general anesthesia. In rare cases when surgery is not possible, medication can be used to dissolve the stones or lithotripsy can be used to break them down.

Structural basis of bile salt extrusion and small-molecule inhibition in human BSEP

Henning Paul-Julius Stahlberg, Dongchun Ni

BSEP (ABCB11) is an ATP-binding cassette transporter that is expressed in hepatocytes and extrudes bile salts into the canaliculi of the liver. BSEP dysfunction, caused by mutations or induced by drugs, is frequently associated with severe cholestatic live ...

Berlin2023

Biogeography of microbial bile acid transformations along the murine gut

Rizlan Bernier-Latmani, Laure Menin, Solenne Anne Marie Marion, Lyne Desharnais

Bile acids, which are synthesized from cholesterol by the liver, are chemically transformed along the intestinal tract by the gut microbiota, and the products of these transformations signal through host receptors, affecting overall host health. These tran ...

AMER SOC BIOCHEMISTRY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INC2020

Bioavailability of steroid hormones sorbed on microplastics for aquatic organisms through biological fluids

Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Thibault Béranger Masset, Cécilia Laetitia Carla Siri, Yang Liu

Many studies have reported that hydrophobic organic contaminants have the ability to sorb on microplastics in aquatic ecosystem via different mechanisms of sorption. However, a lack of studies investigating desorption of such contaminants in organism fluid ...

2020