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Nature Medicine 10, 1301 - 1302 (2004)
doi:10.1038/nm1204-1301

Chipping away at gallstones

Kerry B Goralski1 & Christopher J Sinal1

  1. The authors are in the Department of Pharmacology and Kerry B. Goralski is in the Department of Pediatrics, IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie University, Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 5850 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 1X5, Canada. e-mail: kerry.goralski@dal.ca or e-mail: csinal@dal.ca

Gallstones develop in response to an imbalance of lipids in bile, the digestive fluid produced in the liver. A compound that restores the balance prevents gallstone formation in mouse models (pages 1352–1358).

Gallstones are renowned for the severe pain they cause when they become lodged in the bile duct, an episode that often leads to surgery to remove the gallbladder. In this issue, Moschetta et al.1 open the door to a more subtle approach.

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