Department of Gastroenterology, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Nuovo Polo Didattico, Via Tronto 10,Ancona, Italy.
Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Apr;42(4):238-44. doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2010.01.005. Epub 2010 Feb 18.
Cholangiocytes are the epithelial cells that line the biliary tree; they are the target of chronic diseases termed cholangiopathies, which represent a daily challenge for clinicians, since definitive medical treatments are not available yet. It is generally accepted that the progression of injury in the course of cholangiopathies, and promotion and progression of cholangiocarcinoma are at least in part due to the failure of the cholangiocytes' mechanisms of adaptation to injury. Recently, several studies on the pathophysiology of the biliary epithelium have shed some light on the mechanisms that govern cholangiocyte response to injury. These studies provide novel information to help interpret some of the clinical aspects of cholangiopathies and cholangiocarcinoma; the purpose of this review is thus to describe some of these novel findings, focusing on their significance from a clinical perspective.
胆管细胞是排列在胆道系统的上皮细胞；它们是慢性疾病（称为胆管疾病）的靶标，这些疾病对临床医生来说是一个日常挑战，因为目前还没有明确的治疗方法。人们普遍认为，胆管疾病过程中的损伤进展以及胆管癌的促进和进展至少部分是由于胆管细胞对损伤的适应机制失败所致。最近，几项关于胆管上皮生理病理学的研究揭示了一些控制胆管细胞对损伤反应的机制。这些研究提供了新的信息来帮助解释胆管疾病和胆管癌的一些临床方面；因此，本综述的目的是描述其中的一些新发现，重点从临床角度探讨其意义。
