Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 20:17:4843-4856.
doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S494810. eCollection 2024.

Clinical Significance of Serum Bile Acid Profiles in Fatty Liver

Hao-Yue Sun  1 , Le-Can Wu  1 , Meng-Jie Xu  2 , En-Dian Zheng  1 , Ying-Cong Yu  1 , Yi Ye  1
Affiliations

Clinical Significance of Serum Bile Acid Profiles in Fatty Liver

Hao-Yue Sun et al. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to investigate the alterations in serum bile acid profiles among individuals with fatty liver (including non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and alcoholic fatty liver (AFL) and evaluate their clinical significance when combined with liver enzyme levels.

Methods: A cohort of 110 individuals with fatty liver (including non-alcoholic fatty liver 58 individuals and alcoholic fatty liver 52 individuals) was selected from the Department of Gastroenterology at Wenzhou People's Hospital between January 2021 and December 2022, while a control group of 66 healthy individuals was recruited from the hospital's health examination center during the same period. Clinical data and blood samples were collected from all participants. Serum bile acid profiles were quantified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Statistical analysis was conducted in conjunction with liver enzyme indicators.

Results: In the NAFL group, GCA, TCA, and TCDCA levels were significantly elevated compared to the control group, with GCA (AUC 0.754, sensitivity 0.707, specificity 0.712), TCA (AUC 0.770, sensitivity 0.724, specificity 0.712), and TCDCA (AUC 0.782, sensitivity 0.810, specificity 0.652) showing strong diagnostic value. In the AFL group, TCDCA, TCA, GCA, TUDCA, and GUDCA were significantly elevated, with AUC values ranging from 0.848 to 0.912. Among these, TUDCA had the highest sensitivity (0.885) and specificity (0.773) for AFL diagnosis. TUDCA (sensitivity 0.615, specificity 0.897) was the key bile acid distinguishing AFL from NAFL, with an optimal cut-off of 36.33 nmol/L. These bile acids show significant diagnostic potential for differentiating NAFL and AFL.

Conclusion: The bile acid profiles in both NAFL and AFL patients show changes, which hold potential clinical significance and may serve as serum biomarkers to differentiate NAFL from AFL.

Keywords: alcoholic fatty liver; bile acid profile; diagnosis; non-alcoholic fatty liver.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) OPLS-DA model of bile acid profiles comparing the NAFL group to the control group (red represents the control group; blue represents the NAFL group). (B) Permutation test plot for bile acid profiles comparing the NAFL group to the control group (R2 indicates Model Fit; Q2 indicates Model Prediction). (C) VIP+s-Plot of bile acid profiles comparing the NAFL group to the control group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
ROC curve results for GCA, TCA, TCDCA and TBA in identifying NAFL.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) OPLS-DA model of bile acid profiles comparing the AFL group to the control group (red represents the control group; yellow represents the AFL group). (B) Permutation test plot for bile acid profiles comparing the AFL group to the control group. (C) VIP+s-Plot of bile acid profiles comparing the AFL group to the control group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
ROC curve results for different bile acids and TBA in identifying AFL.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) OPLS-DA model of bile acid profiles comparing the NAFL group to the AFL group (blue represents the NAFL group; yellow represents the AFL group). (B) Permutation test plot for bile acid profiles comparing the NAFL group to the AFL group. (C) VIP+s-Plot of bile acid profiles comparing the NAFL group to the AFL group.
Figure 6
Figure 6
ROC curve results for TUDCA and TBA in identifying NAFL and AFL.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Rinella ME, Neuschwander-Tetri BA, Siddiqui MS, et al. AASLD practice guidance on the clinical assessment and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology. 2023;77(5):1797–1835. doi:10.1097/HEP.0000000000000323 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. National Workshop On Fatty Liver And Alcoholic Liver Disease Chinese Society Of Hepatology, Chinese Medical Association Fatty Liver Expert Committee Chinese Medical Doctor Association. Guidelines for prevention and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (2018 Update). Infect Dis Inform. 2018;31(05):393–402.
    1. Jiao N, Baker SS, Chapa-Rodriguez A, et al. Suppressed hepatic bile acid signalling despite elevated production of primary and secondary bile acids in NAFLD. Gut. 2018;67(10):1881–1891. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2017-314307 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Safari Z, Gérard P. The links between the gut microbiome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Cell Mol Life Sci. 2019;76(8):1541–1558. doi:10.1007/s00018-019-03011-w - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hao M, Zhao MT, Tong HJ, et al. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry based bile and urine metabonomics study on the ameliorative effects of curcuma wenyujin rhizoma on acute blood stasis in rats. World J Tradit Chin Med. 2022;8:141–152. doi:10.4103/wjtcm.wjtcm_55_21 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources