Both bile acids and bile alcohols, a subclass of steroids, are made from cholesterol as its major end metabolites by the liver of vertebrates. Their conjugates are the major constituents of the bile and possess a special function as an aid to intestinal lipid digestion and absorption. The most common naturally occurring bile acids in mammals, birds, most snakes, and various teleostean fishes, a...

To extend our knowledge of how the synthesis of free bile acids and bile salts is regulated within the hepatocyte, bile acid-CoA:amino acid N-acyltransferase and bile acid-CoA thioesterase activities were measured in subcellular fractions of human liver homogenates. Some bile acids, both conjugated and unconjugated, have been reported to be natural ligands for the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), an...

Recently we demonstrated that dietary fish oil (FO) causes changes in intrahepatic cholesterol transport and hypersecretion of cholesterol into bile in rats (J. Clin. Invest. 88: 943-951, 1991). We have now investigated in more detail the relationship between cholesterol and bile acid secretion in rats with chronic bile diversion fed purified diets supplemented (9% wt/wt) with either FO or corn...

Bile acids are important physiological agents required for disposal of cholesterol and absorption of vitamins and fats. Bile acids are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver. Enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is very efficient and plays an important physiological role in lipid absorption and secretion, and regulation of bile acid biosynthesis and cholesterol homeostasis. Conversion of ...

The effect of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on bile flow and composition and on hepatic bile acid transport maximum (Tm) and bile salt-independent bile flow (BSIF) was studied in the rat following seven days TPN containing 33% calories from Intralipid (IL) or Liposyn (LP) or 0% calories from lipid. All TPN regimes markedly reduced bile flow. In no case did TPN cause an increase in bile chole...

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....

Iso-bile acids, the BP-hydroxy epimers of the normally occurring bile acids, are commonly found in the feces of man and other animals but are not present in the bile. Since isochenodeoxycholic acid and isoursodeoxycholic acid were recently isolated from the feces of patients treated with chenodeoxycholic acid or ursodeoxycholic acid, the intestinal absorption and hepatic metabolism of [24-‘4C]i...

Probiotics mainly reside in host intestinal tract, where they interact with bile salts and ingested cholesterol. This paper reviews the recent progresses of probiotics on the following issues, i.e. bile salts effect on membrane composition; probiotic tolerance and modification of bile salts; the mechanism of probiotic removal of host cholesterol; and the roles that bile salt hydrolase plays. © ...

Bile acid excretion was studied in 9 human subjects simultaneously by the Lindstedt (Lindstedt, S. 1957. Acta Physwl. Scand. 4O:l-9) isotopic turnover method and by fecal chemical analysis during a balance study. The identities of the fecal bile acids were confirmed by combined gas-liquid chromatography /mass spectrometry. Under the steady state conditions of the patient studies, bile acid excr...

Bile salts present in gallbladder of wild and cultured red seabream, Pagrosomus major, a marine teleost were analyzed. The bile from wild red seabream was found to contain two previously unknown bile salts along with two known bile salts, taurocholate and taurochenodeoxycholate. Isolation of each bile salt was performed by column chromatography. Fast atom bombardment mass spectra of the unknown...