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Metabolite Card

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Note

Taurocholic acid is a bile acid and is the product of the conjugation of cholic acid with taurine. Its sodium salt is the chief ingredient of the bile of carnivorous animals. Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals. The distinction between different bile acids is minute, depending only on the presence or absence of hydroxyl groups on positions 3, 7, and 12. Bile acids are physiological detergents that facilitate excretion, absorption, and transport of fats and sterols in the intestine and liver. Bile acids are also steroidal amphipathic molecules derived from the catabolism of cholesterol. They modulate bile flow and lipid secretion, are essential for the absorption of dietary fats and vitamins, and have been implicated in the regulation of all the key enzymes involved in cholesterol homeostasis. Bile acids recirculate through the liver, bile ducts, small intestine, and portal vein to form an enterohepatic circuit. They exist as anions at physiological pH, and consequently require a carrier for transport across the membranes of the enterohepatic tissues. The unique detergent properties of bile acids are essential for the digestion and intestinal absorption of hydrophobic nutrients. Bile acids have potent toxic properties (e.g. membrane disruption) and there are a plethora of mechanisms to limit their accumulation in blood and tissues (PMID: 11316487, 16037564, 12576301, 11907135). Taurocholic acid, as with all bile acids, acts as a detergent to solubilize fats for absorption and is itself absorbed. It is used as a cholagogue and choleretic (a bile purging agent). Hydrolysis of taurocholic acid yields taurine, a nonessential amino acid. Taurocholic acid is one of the main components of urinary nonsulfated bile acids in biliary atresia. Raised levels of taurocholate in fetal serum in obstetric cholestasis may result in the development of a fetal dysrhythmia and sudden intra-uterine death (PMID: 3944741, 11256973).