Patient/caregiver was instructed upon cholestyramine and mechanism of action of cholestyramine as follows:
- Bile acids are essential components of bile, secreted by the liver. They help with digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the intestines.
- Bile acids after performing their function of aiding with fat digestion and absorption, usually are reabsorbed and recycled for further use.
- Cholestyramine is a resin that binds with the bile acids in the intestines and form complexes that cannot be absorbed in the intestines.
- This prevents reabsorption and recycling of bile acids, and so, are excreted in the feces complexed with cholestyramine.
- More bile acids are synthesized from the precursor, cholesterol, as they are needed for digestion and absorption of fats from the next meal. Essentially, LDL cholesterol is utilized to make bile acids, to help with fat metabolism.
- As increasing amounts of cholesterol are utilized for bile acid synthesis, secondary to cholestyramine use, lipid and cholesterol levels in the blood gradually decrease, thus establishing the anti-cholesterol action of cholestyramine.
