How does obstetric cholestasis cause stillbirth?
It has long been known that pregnant women with obstetric cholestasis have abnormally high levels of bile acids in their blood, because the liver isn’t working properly. The project team suspects that these raised levels of bile acids might endanger unborn babies by causing their heart to beat abnormally, putting them at risk of a heart attack. Researchers are exploring their theory by performing a series of sophisticated laboratory studies of fetal and adult heart cells. They are measuring the changes in heart rhythms when the cells are exposed to bile acids, and investigating the precise mechanisms by which this happens. They hope to explain why an unborn baby’s heart could be more vulnerable to the effects of bile acids than that of its mother. The team is also examining whether UDCA can protect the heart cells from the effects of bile acids, again looking for a detailed explanation of how this happens.
