Cholecystokinin and cholecystokinin-A receptor: An attractive treatment strategy for biliary dyskinesia?

Abstract

Biliary dyskinesia is a relatively common gastrointestinal disease that is increasing in incidence as living standards improve. However, its underlying pathogenesis remains unclear, hindering the development of therapeutic drugs. Recently, “Expression and functional study of cholecystokinin-A receptors on the interstitial Cajal-like cells of the guinea pig common bile duct” demonstrated that cholecystokinin (CCK) regulates the contractile function of the common bile duct through interaction with the CCK-A receptor in interstitial Cajal-like cells, contributing to improving the academic understanding of biliary tract dynamics and providing emerging directions for the pathogenesis and clinical management of biliary dyskinesia. This letter provides a brief overview of the role of CCK and CCK-A receptors in biliary dyskinesia from the perspective of animal experiments and clinical studies, and discusses prospects and challenges for the clinical application of CCK and CCK-A receptors as potential therapeutic targets.

Keywords: Cholecystokinin; Cholecystokinin-A receptor; Biliary dyskinesia; Interstitial Cajal-like cell; Therapeutic target

Core Tip: Biliary dyskinesia has an estimated 10% morbidity rate and its cause is unknown, hindering the development of appropriate treatments. Traditional surgical treatments have side effects and there is thus an urgent need to identify safe and effective therapeutic targets. This letter agrees with the findings of “Expression and functional study of cholecystokinin-A receptors on the interstitial Cajal-like cells of the guinea pig common bile duct” and provides a brief overview of the prospects and challenges of cholecystokinin (CCK) and CCK-A receptors as potential targets in biliary dyskinesia from the perspective of animal experiments and clinical studies.