BILEACID

Bile acid

Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals. Bile salts are bile acids compounded with a cation, usually sodium. In humans, the salts of taurocholic acid and glycocholic acid represent approximately eighty percent of all bile salts. Bile acids, glycine and taurine conjugates, and 7-alpha-dehydroxylated derivatives are all found in human intestinal bile. An increase in bile flow is exhibited with an increased secretion of bile acids. The main function of bile acid is to facilitate the formation of micelles, which promotes processing of dietary fat.

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bile acid

Noun

  1. any of the steroid acids produced by the liver, such as cholic acid, that occur in bile as sodium salts and serve to neutralize the contents of the stomach as they enter the duodenum and to aid the emulsification and absorption of fats


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: bile acid
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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