Gallstone

A gallstone, also called cholelith (ancient Greek χολή chole, "bile", and λίθος líthos, "stone") or biliary calculus, is a solid, crystallized precipitate of bile (bile fluid). Gallstones are formed by an imbalance of soluble substances in the bile. If a gallstone is located in the gallbladder, it is called a gallstone. If it is in the bile duct (choledochal duct), it is a bile duct stone. Related to gallstones is bile grit.

Generally, the presence of a gallstone is called gallstone disease or cholelithiasis. A gallbladder stone more precisely causes cholecystolithiasis (also cholecystolithiasis; ancient Greek κύστις cystis 'bladder') and a bile duct stone causes choledocholithiasis.

Gallstones are common and often cause no symptoms. However, if gallstones get stuck in the bile duct or gallbladder and obstruct the inflow or outflow of bile, severe colic and inflammation (cholecystitis) can occur.

Epidemiology

Gallstone carriers account for 10 to 15 percent of the adult population, with women being affected about twice as often as men. The disease is particularly common in Western industrialized countries, and is even more common (60-70%) in the indigenous population of the Americas. It is less common in East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and among African Americans. In Germany, about half of the people over 60 have gallstones.

Genetic causes

In mid-2007, researchers at the Universities of Kiel and Bonn discovered a mutation of the gene ABCG8 as a cause of gallstones. (Three to four other mutations are suspected.) This gene contains the building instructions for sterolins, which transport the blood fat cholesterol into the bile ducts. The mutation is thought to increase this transport, thereby promoting the formation of gallstones. Researchers are trying to inhibit the production of these proteins by introducing healthy genes or drugs and thus find new approaches for prevention and therapy.