Hepatic cytochrome P450 8B1 and cholic acid potentiate intestinal epithelial injury in colitis by suppressing intestinal stem cell renewal

Xie and colleagues propose a regulatory mechanism of hepatic bile acid metabolism in colitis pathogenesis. They find that the hepatic CYP8B1-cholic acid metabolic axis impairs Lgr5+ intestinal stem cell renewal by repressing PPARα, thus exacerbating intestinal injury. Hepatic FXR activation or CYP8B1 knockout restores damaged epithelial barrier and alleviates colitis.