In order to elucidate the relationship between bile acid pool size and cholesterol saturation index of fasting state gall bladder bile, we artificially depleted the bile acid pool in 12 healthy volunteers. Bile acid pool size decreased from 7.6 +/- 0.9 to 5.8 +/- 0.7 mmol (mean +/- SEM, p less than 0.01), and saturation index of fasting state gall bladder bile increased from 0.93 +/- 0.07 to 1....

The composition of fasting hepatic bile was analyzed in 63 samples from 8 patients following cholecystectomy to determine if bile was lithogenic in patients with previous cholesterol gallstones after removal of the gallbladder. Bile specimens were obtained from t-tubes over a 7-20 day study period following re-establishment of the enterohepatic circulation. Bile composition varied on a day to d...

Exposure of Salmonella enterica to sodium cholate, sodium deoxycholate, sodium chenodeoxycholate, sodium glycocholate, sodium taurocholate, or sodium glycochenodeoxycholate induces the SOS response, indicating that the DNA-damaging activity of bile resides in bile salts. Bile increases the frequency of GC --> AT transitions and induces the expression of genes belonging to the OxyR and SoxRS reg...

Bile acids and bile salts have essential functions in the liver and in the small intestine. Their synthesis in the liver provides a metabolic pathway for the catabolism of cholesterol and their detergent properties promote the solubilisation of essential nutrients and vitamins in the small intestine. Inherited conditions that prevent the synthesis of bile acids or their excretion cause cholesta...

BilE has been reported as a bile resistance determinant that plays an important role in colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by Listeria monocytogenes, the causative agent of listeriosis. The mechanism(s) by which BilE mediates bile resistance are unknown. BilE shares significant sequence similarity with ATP-binding cassette (ABC) importers that contribute to virulence and stress response...

The transcription factor nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a key regulator for induction of hepatic detoxification and antioxidant mechanisms, as well as for certain hepatobiliary transporters. To examine the role of Nrf2 in bile acid homeostasis and cholestasis, we assessed the determinants of bile secretion and bile acid synthesis and transport before and after bile duct ligation (...

The bile acids in brown pigment stones and gall-bladder bile were fractionated into free acids, gly-cine and taurine conjugates, and sulfates, usingdiethylamino-hydroxypropyl-SephadexLH-20 (DEAP-LH-20)column chromatography,and were quantitatedby gas chromatography. Twenty-eight cases of brownpigment stones were studied and divided into twogroups: those wi...

The main bile acids in human bile are cholic, chenodeoxycholic, and deoxycholic with a mean ratio of 1.1:1.0:0-6 (Sjovall, 1960). Cholic and chenodeoxycholic acid are primary bile acids synthesized from cholesterol in the liver (Bergstrom, Danielsson, and Samuelsson, 1960). These bile acids are not interconvertible. The secondary bile acids, deoxycholic and lithocholic, are products formed by t...

During the process of concentration of bile by the gallbladder, water and electrolytes are absorbed, leaving behind bile acids, bilirubin pigment, and other substances to which the gallbladder epithelium is not permeable. It has recently been postulated (1) that this resorptive process depends upon a "neutral" ion pump in the gallbladder epithelium that transports sodium, anions, and water out ...

Specific bile acids are potent signaling molecules that modulate metabolic pathways affecting lipid, glucose and bile acid homeostasis, and the microbiota. Bile acids are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver, and the key enzymes involved in bile acid synthesis (Cyp7a1, Cyp8b1) are regulated transcriptionally by the nuclear receptor FXR. We have identified an FXR-regulated pathway upstream ...