ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the carboxylic acids participate in sterol metabolism and function. The principle thrust of this survey will be to cover the newly discovered acidic metabolites of the corticosteroids. A number of steroidal acids containing the carboxyl group on the side chain have been isolated from fungi and molds. Eburicoic acid has been isolated from Basidiomycetes. The presence of the acid group is essential to activity. These include fusidic acid, helvolic acid and Cepholosporin p. The bile acids are end products of cholesterol metabolism and are by far the most abundant of the steroid acids. These substances are found throughout the animal kingdom, from fish to mammals. The discovery that corticosteroids are metabolically converted to steroidal carboxylic acids was preceded by a number of observations, which hinted at the possibility that acidic steroids are urinary excretory products.
