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World J Hepatol. Aug 27, 2025; 17(8): 108606
Published online Aug 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i8.108606
Bile acids in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Enver Zerem, Suad Kunosic, Admir Kurtcehajic, Dina Zerem, Omar Zerem
Enver Zerem, Department of Medical Sciences, The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Suad Kunosic, Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Tuzla, Tuzla 75000, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Admir Kurtcehajic, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Blue Medical Group, Tuzla 75000, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dina Zerem, Omar Zerem, Department of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital Safet Mujić Mostar, Mostar 88000, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Author contributions: Zerem E contributed to conception and design of the paper, writing of the paper and final revision; Kunosic S, Kurtcehajic A, Zerem D and Zerem O contributed to the literature search, writing of the paper and final revision of the paper; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Enver Zerem, MD, PhD, Full Professor, Department of Medical Sciences, The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bistrik 7, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina. zerem@live.com
Received: April 18, 2025
Revised: May 11, 2025
Accepted: July 14, 2025
Published online: August 27, 2025
Processing time: 131 Days and 14.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Bile acids (BAs) play a central role in lipid metabolism, influencing lipid digestion, absorption, storage and oxidation. Through their actions, as signaling molecules, they regulate a wide range of metabolic processes, including lipid and glucose metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, energy expenditure, and composition of the gut microbiota. The dysregulation of bile acid metabolism is linked to various metabolic diseases, highlighting the importance of BAs in maintaining metabolic homeostasis. Understanding these mechanisms is of great importance and may be crucial for the development of new therapies for these diseases.