Ursodesoxycholic acid
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Ursodesoxycholic acid (also Ursodeoxycholic acid) is a component of bile acid, produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. Bile acids such as ursodesoxycholic acid help the body digest fats. Ursodesoxycholic acid in particular helps regulate cholesterol by reducing the rate at which the intestine absorbs cholesterol molecules while breaking up micelles containing cholesterol. Because of this property, ursodesoxycholic acid is used to treat gall stones non-surgically.
Ursodesoxycholic acid has also been shown experimentally to suppress immune response such as immune cell phagocytosis. Increased quantities of systemic (throughout the body, not just in the digestive system) ursodesoxycholic acid can be toxic.
Bile acids are important signaling molecules that help regulate the regrowth of liver tissue, recent research has shown. Ursodesoxycholic acid has been used as an experimental tool in liver regrowth studies. There is a possible link between the immune-repression and liver-regeneration properties of this substance, but clinical studies have yet to confirm these suspocions.
