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Volume 42, Issue 4, Pages 238-244 (April 2010)


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Clinical implications of novel aspects of biliary pathophysiology

Marco MarzioniCorresponding Author Informationemail address, Stefania Saccomanno, Cinzia Candelaresi, Chiara Rychlicki, Laura Agostinelli, Luciano Trozzi, Samuele De Minicis, Antonio Benedetti

Received 18 November 2009; accepted 11 January 2010. published online 18 February 2010.

Abstract 

Cholangiocytes are the epithelial cells that line the biliary tree; they are the target of chronic diseases termed cholangiopathies, which represent a daily challenge for clinicians, since definitive medical treatments are not available yet.

It is generally accepted that the progression of injury in the course of cholangiopathies, and promotion and progression of cholangiocarcinoma are at least in part due to the failure of the cholangiocytes’ mechanisms of adaptation to injury.

Recently, several studies on the pathophysiology of the biliary epithelium have shed some light on the mechanisms that govern cholangiocyte response to injury. These studies provide novel information to help interpret some of the clinical aspects of cholangiopathies and cholangiocarcinoma; the purpose of this review is thus to describe some of these novel findings, focusing on their significance from a clinical perspective.

Department of Gastroenterology, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author at: Department of Gastroenterology, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Nuovo Polo Didattico, III piano, Via Tronto 10, 60020 Ancona, Italy. Tel.: +39 0712206043; fax: +39 0712206044.

 This work was supported by a MIUR grant 2007—prot. 2007HPT7BA_002 to Dr. Marzioni and by Intramural Grants by the Università Politecnica delle Marche to Dr. Marzioni and to Dr. Benedetti.

PII: S1590-8658(10)00009-5

doi:10.1016/j.dld.2010.01.005


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