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Transintestinal cholesterol excretion in health and disease

  • Vascular Biology (H. Pownall, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Atherosclerosis Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The transintestinal cholesterol efflux (TICE) pathway is the second described route for plasma cholesterol fecal elimination. This article summarizes recent TICE research progresses, involving TICE inducers, molecular determinants of this pathway, and its role in lipoprotein metabolism.

Recent Findings

TICE is an active pathway in mice, rats, and humans. Kinetic measurements showed that under basal conditions, the relative contribution of TICE in fecal elimination of plasma cholesterol is quantitatively less important than the hepatobiliary pathway. However, the amplitude of TICE can be induced by numerous nutritional factors and pharmacological drugs. More importantly, by contrast with the stimulation of biliary cholesterol excretion that is associated with an increased risk of gallstone formation, TICE appears as a safer therapeutical target. Finally, several independent studies have demonstrated that TICE is actively contributing to the anti-atherogenic reverse cholesterol pathway reinforcing the interest to better understand its mode of action.

Summary

The discovery of TICE and the understanding of its mode of action open new therapeutical perspectives for patients at high risk of cardiovascular diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nantes Université, CHU Nantes*, CNRS, INSERM, l’institut du thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France

    Damien Garçon, Bertrand Cariou & Cédric Le May

  2. L’institut du thorax, INSERM, CNRS, UNIV NANTES, BP 70721, 8 Quai Moncousu, 44007, Nantes cedex 1, France

    Jean-Matthieu Berger

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  1. Damien Garçon
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Correspondence to Cédric Le May.

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This article is a review article in the field of Transintestinal Cholesterol Efflux. It contains previous publications based on human and animal studies.

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Garçon, D., Berger, JM., Cariou, B. et al. Transintestinal cholesterol excretion in health and disease. Curr Atheroscler Rep 24, 153–160 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-022-00995-y

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