Abstract
Bile acids, which were biosynthesized from cholesterol in the liver, had been considered to prompt the lipids absorption in the intestine as a detergent. In 1999, independent three research groups reported that bile acids functioned as endogenous and physiologically relevant ligands for the orphan nuclear receptor, farnesoid X receptor (FXR). This breakthrough discovery has leaded the research of bile acids homeostasis. These researches clarified that bile acids-activated FXR regulated not only CYP7A1 expression, the rate-limiting enzyme of bile acids biosynthesis, but also bile acids transporters, which regulated the bile acids enterohepatic circulations. Recently, it was reported that the activated FXR improved the hyperglycemia and hyperlipemia in the diabetic mice. These results suggested that FXR regulated the glucose metabolism in addition to the bile acids metabolism.
