Bile acids and glucocorticoid metabolism in health and disease

Abstract

Glucocorticoids are regulators of stress response essential for survival. Liver disease can alter this homeostatic mechanism in patients with liver cirrhosis - a finding that might mirror the controversially discussed condition of critical illness related corticosteroid insufficiency. Underlying mechanisms might be shared molecular pathways in both bile acid as well as glucocorticoid metabolism at the level of synthesis, catabolism or the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. Molecular links include the farnesoid X receptor FXR or the G protein-coupled bile acid receptor TGR5 expressed in the liver and the adrenals. In this review we sum up knowledge on the regulation of adrenal gland function and steroidogenesis, focussing on bile acids and potential alterations under cholestatic conditions, depict molecular links between glucocorticoid and bile acid metabolism and discuss the difficulties of assessment of adrenal function in humans in general and more specifically in liver diseases.

Keywords: Adrenal gland; Cholestasis; Cirrhosis; Corticosterone; Cortisol; Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency; Glucocorticoids; Relative adrenal insufficiency; Steroids.