Cholesterol Gallstones Research Paper

Effects of Diet on the Development of Cholesterol Gallstones
Hannah Matich
BIO 392 Dijkstra
Thurs 6PM Lab
3/29/17

1
Gallbladder disease is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders in developed countries. Gallbladder disease is typically manifested in the form of gallstones or gallbladder cancer. Gallstones affect 10-15% of people in developing countries, meaning 20-25 million Americans have or will have gallstones (Stinton and Shaffer, 2012). Though mortality rate is low; gallstones are responsible for about 1.83% of the surgical deaths per year. The high prevalence rate means that there are still around 1000 gallstone related deaths per year in countries such as the United States and UK. (Scollay et al., 2011).
The study explains that UDCA is the only established treatment to dissolve and prevent cholesterol gallstones (CG). UDCA works by decreasing α1 acid glycoprotein, hepatoglobin, immunoglobin A, IgG, y-glutamyl, transpeptidase, and aminopeptidase. The study found that mice on the RD and RD+n-3 PUFA showed no gallstones. Mice on the LD diet had increased instances of gallstones; however, mice on LD+n-3 PUFA+ UDCA showed a significant decrease in gallstone prevalence compared to LD, LD+n-3, and LD+UDCA. It was also found that a LD resulted in hypertrophy of the gallbladder but when n-3 PUFA was added to the LD hypertrophy was suppressed. N-3 PUFA was shown to return gallbladder walls to their original state after the mucosal epithelium of gallbladder walls showed hypertrophic changes due to LD. A second factor examined in the study was levels of mucin mRNA. Excess levels of mucin are shown to increase likelihood of gallbladder disease. After n-3 PUFA treatment there was a significantly lower expression of mucin genes Muc2, Muc5ac, Mucc5b, and Muc6. Though there is no clear evidence as to why the mucin genes are expressed in the first place; it is hypothesized that increased bile phospholipid production
While a hundred-fold dilution of the root only resulted in partial dissolving of gallstones, showing concentration of the root is directly proportional to its effectiveness. While the tenfold dilution of black radish root did result in a reduction on gallstones, cholesterol, and triglycerides, it did not result in significant improvement of hyperplasia in the epithelium of the gallbladder; this being another consequence of LD. Lithogenic diet (LD) is comparable to the typical western diet high in fats, cholesterol, and low in fiber (Castro-Torres et. al, 2012)