ABSTRACT
The two main bile acids manufactured in the liver are cholic acid (50%) and chenodeoxycholic acid (30%), with manufacture of smaller quantities of deoxycholic acid (15%) and lithocholic acid (5%) by bacteria in the gut. The bile acids may be thought of as the end-points of cholesterol breakdown in the body. They are synthesized from cholesterol but the tissues cannot break down the steroid nucleus. Consequently, measurement of the output of bile acids is a way of estimating the amount of cholesterol being processed. Once produced in the liver cells, the bile acids are conjugated to glycholic acid (67%) and taurocholic acid (33%) which, in the alkaline bile, form sodium and potassium salts.
