Bile Acid-Induced Lung Injury in Newborn Infants: A Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Study

Abstract

Bile acids are detectable in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of newborns from intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy affected by respiratory distress syndrome. Elevated serum bile acid levels in these infants allow us to hypothesize that bile acid reaches the lung after an uptake from the circulation. These findings strongly support a role for bile acid in causing bile acid pneumonia.