Role of Bilirubin in Liver Disease
A special issue of Livers (ISSN 2673-4389).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 53
Special Issue Editors
Interests: heme oxygenase; bilirubin; oxidative stress; nuclear receptors; fatty liver; glucocorticoid receptor; PPARs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: obesity; diabetes; hypertension; cardiovascular disease; heme oxygenase; bilirubin; biliverdin reductase; antioxidants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: insulin receptor; insulin resistance; diabetes; obesity; MASLD; liver; liver fibrosis; liver organoids; bilirubin; urobilin
Interests: cardiovascular disease; metabolic disorders; metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; gestational diabetes; bilirubin; insulin resistance; endothelial dysfunction
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bilirubin, a metabolite long considered merely a waste to be cleared from the body, is now recognized as a biologically active molecule with far-reaching effects on metabolic health. While elevated bilirubin is traditionally viewed as a marker of liver injury and risk of neuron damage, growing evidence supports its role as a metabolic hormone. Bilirubin enhances fatty acid utilization, reduces hepatic fat accumulation, and improves insulin sensitivity, linking it closely to insulin-resistance-associated liver diseases. Its conversion to urobilin through the intestinal microbiota and the possibility that bilirubin and urobilin exert opposing physiological actions have opened up an exciting new area of research.
This Special Issue will bring together the latest advances in bilirubin and urobilin biology, highlighting their emerging roles as biomarkers, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic targets for metabolic-related disorders such as obesity, insulin resistance, fatty liver diseases, liver fibrosis, and even cardiovascular disease. Contributions will include comprehensive reviews, new research findings, and expert perspectives from leading voices across metabolism, hepatology, and microbiome science.
This Special Issue will serve as a valuable resource for researchers and clinicians, inspiring future discoveries in this rapidly evolving field.
Dr. Terry D. Hinds, Jr.
Dr. David E. Stec
Guest Editors
Dr. Wang-Hsin Lee
Dr. Olufunto Badmus
Guest Editor Assistants
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Livers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- PPARα
- MASLD
- NAFLD
- gut microbiota
- HMOX
- HO-1
- BVRA
- UGT1A1
- bilirubin reductase
- urobilin
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