Small intestine controls bile output.

• Position: Liver Disease

The discovery that the small intestine communicates with the liver to control the production of bile acids is a finding that has great medical implications in treating people at risk for certain types of liver disease, declare researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

"We've discovered a new hormone, and new hormones are always exciting," announces Steven Kliewer. The findings eventually may play a role in understanding and preventing liver damage that can occur in biliary cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, and pregnancy.

The central elements in the research are the body's bile acids--powerful and essential detergents that help digest fatty foods and fat-soluble vitamins in the small intestine. The liver makes bile acids out of cholesterol and sends them to the gallbladder, where they are stored until food is digested. The presence of food stimulates the gallbladder into releasing the bile acids to the small intestine, where they do their work. Finally, they are absorbed into the bloodstream and returned to the liver.

Scientists previously have known about a mechanism within the liver that prevents too much bile acid from being produced. Normally, a protein called CYP7A1 stimulates production of the acids. When enough bile acids are made, they trigger a series of reactions that block the gene for CYP7A1, and production stops. For this study, researchers...