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Bile acid malabsorption (BAM), known also as bile acid diarrhea, is a cause of several gut-related problems, the main one being chronic diarrhea. It has also been called bile acid-induced diarrhea, cholerheic or choleretic enteropathy, bile salt diarrhea or bile salt malabsorption.
Dietary modification is important in some conditions: Gluten-free diet in coeliac disease. Lactose avoidance in lactose intolerance. Antibiotic therapy to treat Small Bowel Bacterial overgrowth. Cholestyramine or other bile acid sequestrants will help with reducing diarrhoea in bile acid malabsorption.
Primary bile acid malabsorption, a gut defect in the reabsorption of bile acids in the small intestine which results in increased levels of bile acids in the colon leading to watery diarrhea and bloating. [31] Chronic infection of C. difficile, G. lamblia. C. difficile — bacteria that can be the source of diarrhea. [32]
Bile acid sequestrants are polymeric compounds that serve as ion-exchange resins. Bile acid sequestrants exchange anions such as chloride ions for bile acids. By doing so, they bind bile acids and sequester them from the enterohepatic circulation. The liver then produces more bile acids to replace those that have been lost.
Bile acids comprise about 80% of the organic compounds in bile (others are phospholipids and cholesterol). [5] An increased secretion of bile acids produces an increase in bile flow. Bile acids facilitate digestion of dietary fats and oils. They serve as micelle-forming surfactants, which encapsulate nutrients, facilitating their absorption. [6]
Persons with short bowel syndrome may have complications caused by malabsorption of vitamins and minerals, such as deficiencies in vitamins A, D, E, K, B 9 (folic acid), and B 12, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. These may appear as anemia, hyperkeratosis (scaling of the skin), easy bruising, muscle spasms, poor blood clotting, and bone pain.
Bypassing the major site of bile acid reabsorption in the small intestine therefore further reduces fat and fat-soluble vitamin absorption. As a result, huge amounts of fatty acids , which are normally absorbed in the small intestine, enter the colon, where they cause irritation of the colon wall and the secretion of excessive volumes of water ...
In addition to this, bile also plays a role in fat absorption, where dietary lipids are combined so that pancreatic lipases can hydrolyze them before going towards the small intestine. Without bile acids, this pathway would have a hard time occurring, which would lead to fat malabsorption and make steatorrhea more probable to occur. [2]