The nontoxic bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is reported to be an anti-apoptotic agent with efficacy against a variety of death stimuli including the cytotoxic bile acid deoxycholic acid (DCA). To gain insight into this anti-apoptotic property, we tested UDCA for its ability to protect the colon carcinoma-derived cell line HCT116 against DCA-induced apoptosis. We found that UDCA could sup...

The ursodeoxycholic acid story in primary biliary cirrhosis The name ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is derived from 'ursocholeinische saure' used by Hammarsten in 1902 to describe a bile acid discovered in polar bears. The bile acid he identified was actually chenodeoxycholic acid.1 UDCA is the 7P epimer of chenodeoxycholic acid and has the chemical structure 3a 7,B-dihydroxy-5p-cholan-24-oic acid...

Background: Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is an important clinical drug in the treatment of liver disease. In previous work, ursodeoxycholic acid was prepared by traditional organic synthesis. The preparation of ursodeoxycholic acid through an electrochemical method with higher stereoselectivity and environmental friendliness is described herein. Results: Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylformam...

Little is known about the effects of cholesterol-lowering agents in hypercholesterolemic patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The aim of this study was to compare the changes induced by simvastatin and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) on cholesterol metabolism in patients with PBC and preserved liver function. Six patients with PBC were administered simvastatin (40 mg/day) for 30 days and,...

This study investigated whether -muricholic acid, a natural trihydroxy hydrophilic bile acid of rodents, acts as a biliary cholesterol-desaturating agent to prevent cholesterol gallstones and if it facilitates the dissolution of gallstones compared with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). For gallstone prevention study, gallstone-susceptible male C57L mice were fed 8 weeks with a lithogenic diet (2% c...

Significant amounts of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) used for the treatment of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) become epimerized at C-3 to isoUDCA. We investigated the metabolism of isoUDCA and a possible pharmacologic effect in five patients (51.4 5.8 years old; 3 females, 2 males) with PBC and persistent elevations of -glutamyl transpeptidase ( -GT) and alkaline phosphatase despit...

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) disease is a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the NPC1 or NPC2 genes. Liver disease is also a common feature of NPC that can present as cholestatic jaundice in the neonatal period. Liver enzymes can remain elevated above the normal range in some patients as they age. We recently reported suppression of the P450 detoxification s...

Dear Editor, I read with great interest the recent article by Tschirner et al. [1]. Interestingly, recent data suggest that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) may attenuate tumor growth in a number of gastrointestinal malignancies. For instance, tauro-ursodeoxycholic acid when administered along with celecoxib attenuates proliferation and tumor growth in colonic adenomas [2]. Interestingly, UDCA decre...

Deoxycholic acid (DCA) has been implicated in colonic carcinogenesis through effects mediated by protein kinase C (PKC) activation. By contrast, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is reported to reduce colon cancer incidence in ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether UDCA modulated DCA-induced PKC isoenzyme translocation to its site of activity. HCT116 cells were treated w...

UNLABELLED  Background and aims. Patients with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) benefit from ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment. Since there is still certain reluctance to use UDCA in pregnant women, mainly due to warnings in the official SPC information in respective drug leaflets, our objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of UDCA during pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHOD...