Nanocellulose Alleviates Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy via Gut Microbiota‐Mediated Bile Acid Homeostasis
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a pregnancy-specific disorder characterized by elevated maternal serum total bile acid (TBA) and increased risk of adverse fetal outcomes, yet current therapies and preventive strategies remain suboptimal. Here, we present a preclinical investigation of nanocellulose as a gut microbiota-targeted dietary intervention to restore bile acid homeostasis. We demonstrate that nanocellulose, particularly cellulose nanofibers (CNF), administered prophylactically, attenuated maternal TBA and improved offspring survival in a rat ICP model by enriching probiotic microbial taxa while suppressing bile acid-transforming bacteria. These microbial shifts promoted the accumulation of fecal primary bile acids and activation of gut-liver farnesoid X receptor (FXR) signaling. This cascade reduced intestinal reabsorption and hepatic synthesis of bile acids while promoting their excretion in feces. Collectively, pre-gestational CNF effectively lowered systemic bile acid burden and mitigated the ICP phenotype. Our findings identify CNF as a biosafe, microbiota-responsive dietary fiber with translational potential for early preventive management of bile acid-related disorders during pregnancy.
Authors
- Sergey Tumanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0557-3153)
- Rui Ran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8030-7050)
- He Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5388-0297)
- Hui Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5462-7042)
- Boris Novakovic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5623-9008)
- Xiaocui Zhong
- Ting-Li Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6011-7508)
- Y S Zhang
- Richard Saffery (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9510-4181)
- Li Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8142-403X)
- Qibin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1547-5757)
- Muhua Yu
- Yuanzhi Huang
- Hongjie Dai
- Y S Yang
- Xiaojing Dong
- Richard D. Cannon
- Silas Villas‐Boas
- Daiyong Huang
Institutions
- Royal Children's Hospital (AU)
- Agilent Technologies (United States) (US)
- Southwest University (CN)
- Dalian Medical University (CN)
- The Heart Research Institute (AU)
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CN)
- Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LU)
- Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Chongqing Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2026-06-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202518337
- Primary Topic
- Drug Transport and Resistance Mechanisms
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Chongqing Municipal Health Commission
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality
- Chongqing Municipal Education Commission
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities