The interrelationship between bile acid and vitamin A homeostasis

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin important for vision, reproduction, embryonic development, cell differentiation, epithelial barrier function and adequate immune responses. Efficient absorption of dietary vitamin A depends on the fat-solubilizing properties of bile acids. Bile acids are synthesized in the liver and maintained in an enterohepatic circulation. The liver is also the main storage site for vitamin A in the mammalian body, where an intimate collaboration between hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells leads to the accumulation of retinyl esters in large cytoplasmic lipid droplet hepatic stellate cells. Chronic liver diseases are often characterized by disturbed bile acid and vitamin A homeostasis, where bile production is impaired and hepatic stellate cells lose their vitamin A in a transdifferentiation process to myofibroblasts, cells that produce excessive extracellular matrix proteins leading to fibrosis. Chronic liver diseases thus may lead to vitamin A deficiency. Recent data reveal an intricate crosstalk between vitamin A metabolites and bile acids, in part via the Retinoic Acid Receptor (RAR), Retinoid X Receptor (RXR) and the Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR), in maintaining vitamin A and bile acid homeostasis. Here, we provide an overview of the various levels of “communication” between vitamin A metabolites and bile acids and its relevance for the treatment of chronic liver diseases.