pubmed:abstractText |
Deoxycholic acid (DCA), implicated in the pathogenesis of gall stones and colorectal cancer, is mainly formed by bacterial deconjugation (cholylglycine hydrolase (CGH)) and 7 alpha-dehydroxylation (7 alpha-dehydroxylase (7 alpha-DH)) of conjugated cholic acid (CA) in the caecum/proximal colon. Despite this, most previous studies of CGH and 7 alpha-DH have been in faeces rather than in caecal contents. In bacteria, CA increases 7 alpha-DH activity by substrate-enzyme induction but little is known about CA concentrations or CA/7 alpha-DH induction in the human colon.
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