Ursodeoxycholic Acid

Ursodeoxycholic Acid is a naturally occurring bile acid used to treat various hepatobiliary disorders. It works mainly by reducing the amount of cholesterol secreted into bile. It does this through several mechanisms: reducing cholesterol absorption, suppressing cholesterol synthesis in the liver, and leaving bile acid synthesis uninhibited. Therefore, it shifts bile composition from a supersaturated state to an unsaturated one. Ursodeoxycholic Acid also promotes the formation of liquid cholesterol crystal complexes, which help move cholesterol out of the gallbladder and into the intestine so it can be expelled from the body.

Ursodeoxycholic Acid improves cholestatic liver diseases by protecting cholangiocytes against the cytotoxic effects of hydrophobic bile acids, stimulating hepatobiliary secretion, and protecting hepatocytes against bile acid-induced cell death.

Ursodeoxycholic Acid is completely absorbed in the upper intestine, with peak serum concentration reached anywhere between 30 and 150 minutes, and an absorption rate of 60-80%. After being absorbed, it enters the portal vein and is extracted from the portal blood by the liver, where it is conjugated with an amino acid, either glycine or taurine, and then secreted into the hepatic bile ducts. Small quantities appear in the general circulation, and only very small amounts are excreted in urine. Its biologic half-life ranges between 3.5 and 5.8 days.