Bileacidderived

Bileacidderived refers to compounds that are produced from bile acids through chemical modification, semi-synthesis, or biosynthetic transformation. These molecules preserve the general sterol framework of bile acids and are typically modified to alter properties such as solubility, hydrophobicity, and biological activity.

Bile acids themselves are steroid acids synthesized in the liver from cholesterol. Primary bile acids include cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid, which are often conjugated with glycine or taurine before secretion into bile. In the intestine, gut microbiota can transform these into secondary bile acids such as deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid. Derivatization of bile acids aims to generate derivatives with altered receptor affinity, including FXR and TGR5, or to create prodrugs and drug-delivery systems that exploit bile acid transport pathways and enterohepatic cycling.

Applications of bileacidderived compounds span therapeutics, drug development, and materials science. In medicine, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a naturally occurring bile acid used to treat certain cholestatic liver diseases, while obeticholic acid (a semi-synthetic CDCA derivative) activates FXR and is approved for specific liver conditions and studied for metabolic diseases such as NASH. Beyond approved drugs, numerous bile acid–derived molecules serve as drug leads, FXR/TGR5 modulators, or components of nanoparticle and prodrug systems designed to improve delivery and targeting.

Considerations for these compounds include safety and potential hepatobiliary effects, as well as variability arising from gut microbiota and enterohepatic circulation. The term bileacidderived encompasses a broad set of molecules used in pharmacology, chemical biology, and materials science.