Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39804015›Full record

ArticleLiver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver2025

Liver GPBAR1 Associates With Immune Dysfunction in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Its Activation Attenuates Cholestasis in Abcb4-/- Mice.

Cristina Di Giorgio, Ginevra Urbani, Silvia Marchianò, Michele Biagioli, Martina Bordoni, Rachele Bellini, Carmen Massa, Ginevra Lachi, Luigi Cari, Elva Morretta and 10 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Bile acid signaling in health and disease.Molecular biomedicine · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Macrophage heterogeneity in liver fibrosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Cristina Di GiorgioDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7125-8963
Ginevra UrbaniDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Silvia MarchianòDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Michele BiagioliDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-2995-6896
Martina BordoniBAR PHARMACEUTICALS SRL, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Rachele BelliniDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Carmen MassaDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Ginevra LachiDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Luigi CariDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-0698-3872
Elva MorrettaDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-7244-0297
Lucio SpinelliDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Maria Chiara MontiDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-1337-2909
Valentina SepeDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Angela ZampellaDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Eleonora DistruttiAzienda Ospedaliera di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Jesus M BanalesDepartment of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, Donostia University Hospital, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), CIBERehd, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
Ainhoa LapitzDepartment of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, Donostia University Hospital, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), CIBERehd, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
Piotr MilkiewiczLiver and Internal Medicine Unit, Department of General, Transplant and Liver Surgery, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.ORCID 0000-0002-1817-0724
Malgorzata MilkiewiczDepartment of Medical Biology, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
Stefano FiorucciDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.

Funding

FIS PI24/00148, PI21/00922Miguel Servet CPII19/00008PRIN-2022 n. 20223K7L88PRIN-2022-PNRR n. 20227JB3W
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsPrimary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterised by progressive biliary inflammation and fibrosis, leading to liver cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma. GPBAR1 (TGR5) is a G protein-coupled receptor for secondary bile acids. In this study, we have examined the therapeutic potential of BAR501, a selective GPBAR1 agonist in a PSC model.

methodsSingle-cell analysis of healthy human liver samples and gene expression analysis of PSC liver samples were conducted. In vitro studies on a human cholangiocyte cell line (NHC), U937 and human hepatic stellate cells (hSteCs) were performed. Additionally, Abcb4

resultsSingle-cell analysis demonstrated that GPBAR1 is expressed by macrophages, NK cells, sinusoidal cells and to a lesser extent by cholangiocytes. Total liver expression of GPBAR1 increases in PSC patients compared to that in healthy controls and positively correlates with markers for monocytes and NK cells and cytokeratin 19. In vitro treatment of NHCs with BAR501 reversed the acquisition of a pro-inflammatory phenotype and the downregulation of GPBAR1 expression promoted by LPS in an NF-κB-dependent manner. Treating Abcb4

conclusionsOur study provides evidence for the therapeutic potential of selective GPBAR1 agonists in intestinal inflammation-associated cholestasis, warranting the evaluation of BAR501 in PSC patients.

Indexed as

Cholangitis, SclerosingCholestasisLiverReceptors, G-Protein-CoupledAnimalsATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily BDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHepatic Stellate CellsHumansMaleMiceMice, KnockoutATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily BGPBAR1 protein, humanGpbar1 protein, mouseReceptors, G-Protein-Coupledbile acidscholangiocytes–macrophages cross‐talkGPBAR1 (TGR5)gut–liver axesintestinal microbiotaprimary sclerosing cholangitis

Identifiers

PMID39804015
PMCPMC11727439

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.