1. The hepatic extraction ratios of chenodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid have been measured in 12 patients without, and 20 patients with, liver disease. 2. Ten of the patients without liver disease were studied during cardiac catheterization, with a continuous infusion technique. Two of the patients without liver disease and all those with liver disease received an intravenous bolus o...

Ursodeoxycholic acid is an epimer of chenodeoxycholic acid (DB06777). It is a mammalian bile acid found first in the bear and is apparently either a precursor or a product of chenodeoxycholate. Its administration changes the composition of bile and may dissolve gallstones. It is used as a cholagogue and choleretic. [PubChem] Indication: The drug reduces cholesterol absorption and is used to dis...

We recently demonstrated that the formation of delta 22-bile acids is a quantitatively major pathway for normal bile acid synthesis in the adult male Sprague-Dawley rat. This pathway is specific for 7 beta-hydroxy bile acids and, when ursodeoxycholic acid is administered, delta 22-ursodeoxycholic acid appears as a major metabolite in the liver tissue, bile, intestinal contents, and plasma. The ...

Introduction: Early differentiation of biliary atresia from neonatal hepatitis is of utmost importance, since on time surgery of biliary atresia significantly improves the outcome. Hepatobiliary scintigraphy is an integral part of diagnosis work-up of these patients; however its specificity for diagnosis of biliary atresia is suboptimal. In this study we evaluated the value of ursodeoxycholic a...

Six strains of lecithinase-lipase-negative Clostridia, isolated from human feces, were capable of oxidizing chenodeoxycholic acid to 3 alpha-hydroxy-7 keto-5 beta-cholanoic acid and of epimerizing it to ursodeoxycholic acid. The identity of the reaction products was confirmed by comparing their mass spectra, obtained by combined gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, with those of authent...

The present study was undertaken to characterize the effects of ursodeoxycholic acid on biliary lipid metabolism in man. Fifteen gallstone patients were treated with ursodeoxycholic acid at a daily dosage of 15 mg per kg body weight for about 4 weeks before cholecystectomy. At operation a liver biopsy, together with gallbladder and hepatic bile, were obtained. Eighteen untreated gallstone patie...

The formation of ursodeoxycholic acid from chenodeoxycholic acid and the role of 7-ketolithocholic acid as an intermediate in this biotransformation were studied in vitro in fecal incubations as well as in vivo in the human colon. [24-14C]-Labeled 7-ketolithocholic and chenodeoxycholic acids were studied at various concentrations, and the biotransformation products were analyzed by thin-layer c...

To date, no other studies have examined the seasonal changes in circulating levels of various bile acids in the plasma of wild North American black bears, Ursus americanus. Using gas chromatography, bile acid concentrations were measured in plasma samples obtained during either early or late hibernation, and during summer active periods. Thus, specific compositional changes from individual anim...

Systemic arterial vasodilatation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of sodium retention in cirrhosis. Hydrophobic bile acids, which have vasodilatory actions, may be involved. Ursodeoxycholic acid, a hydrophilic bile acid, could potentially decrease systemic arterial vasodilatation, possibly due to its antioxidant effects, and improve sodium handling in cirrhosis. The effects of ursodeoxyc...

Dysfunction of the type 1 cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor (CCK1R) as a result of increased gallbladder muscularis membrane cholesterol has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cholesterol gallstones. Administration of ursodeoxycholic acid, which is structurally related to cholesterol, has been shown to have beneficial effects on gallstone formation. Our aims were to explore the possible direct...