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PW-040 Lipid Metabolism Catabolic (cholesterol disposal) unreviewed

Bile Acid Synthesis

Cholesterol Conjugated bile salts (glyco-/tauro-cholate and chenodeoxycholate)
Compartment
ER + mitochondrion + peroxisome
Main tissue
Liver
Rate-limiting
Cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1)
Steps
4

Reaction steps

In source order, 4 total

showing 1–4
  1. 1

    Cholesterol + O2 + NADPH -> 7-alpha-hydroxycholesterol

    Cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) 1.14.14.23 ST-0320 Irreversible rate-limiting O2 NADPH heme
    In Cholesterol O2 NADPH
    Out 7-Alpha-hydroxycholesterol
    › Notes

    Rate-limiting and committed step of the classic (neutral) pathway; feedback-inhibited by bile acids returning via FXR/FGF19, and induced when bile acids are sequestered by resins.

  2. 2

    7-alpha-hydroxycholesterol -> cholic acid or chenodeoxycholic acid

    CYP8B1, CYP27A1 and side-chain oxidation enzymes ST-0321 Irreversible/directional NADPH O2
    In 7-Alpha-hydroxycholesterol
    Out Cholic acid or chenodeoxycholic acid
    › Notes

    CYP8B1 activity determines the ratio of cholic to chenodeoxycholic acid (the primary bile acids).

  3. 3

    Bile acid + glycine or taurine -> glyco- or tauro-conjugated bile salt

    Bile acid-CoA synthetase + bile acid-CoA:amino acid N-acyltransferase (BAAT) ST-0322 Irreversible/directional ATP CoA-SH
    In Bile acid Glycine or taurine
    Out Glyco- or tauro-conjugated bile salt
    › Notes

    Conjugation lowers the pKa so the bile salts stay ionised and act as detergents at intestinal pH.

  4. 4

    Primary bile salts -> deoxycholate and lithocholate (gut bacteria) -> enterohepatic recycling

    Bacterial 7-alpha-dehydroxylase (colonic microbiota) ST-0323 Irreversible/directional
    Out Deoxycholate
    › Notes

    About 95% of bile salts are reabsorbed in the terminal ileum by ASBT and returned to liver; loss of ileum or resin binding forces cholesterol into new bile acid synthesis.

Showing all 4 steps.

Recent literature

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Europe PMC · fetched just now · sorted by publication date

  1. 1
    From gut microbiota metabolism to microvascular injury: Exploring the role and mechanisms of gut microbiota in obesity-induced coronary microcirculation dysfunction.

    Liu Y, Wang Y, Teng H, Nie W, Qiao X, Shen Y, Wang Z, Yao X. · 2026-06-02

    open access unreviewed
  2. 2
    Decoding the microbiome: artificial intelligence-targeted gut microenvironment breakthroughs in personalized cancer therapy.

    Liu J, Zhao P, Jiang D, Li S, Jin C, Xu D, Wang X, Chen Y, Tang B, Qu X. · 2026-05-29

    open access unreviewed
  3. 3
    A novel bile salt hydrolase-producing <i>Ligilactobacillus salivarius</i> prevents diet-induced obesity via regulation of bile acid metabolism and glucagon-like peptide 1 restoration.

    Lv J, Zhou L, Dai X, Landberg R, Meng H, Tian H, Zhang S, Liu T, Yin X, Zhang J, Song X, Bonny C, Blum S, Cao… · 2026-05-06

    open access unreviewed
  4. 4
    The gut microbiome-bile acid-FXR interplay: a pivotal axis in metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases.

    Shou J, Fu T. · 2026-05-01

    open access unreviewed
  5. 5
    Glucagon-like peptide-1: a critical link between gut microbiota dysbiosis and degenerative musculoskeletal diseases.

    Yang W, Hao C, Wang N, Xie J, Zhou B, Yang Z, Zheng A, Wei J, Li C, Xie C, Li H, Lei G, Zeng C. · 2026-04-22

    open access unreviewed
  6. 6
    Longitudinal gut microbiome dynamics are associated with clinical outcome and toxicity during ibrutinib therapy.

    Morineau N, Tessoulin B, Guimard T, Papin M, Roquilly A, Le Gouill S, Montassier E. · 2026-04-19

    open access unreviewed
  7. 7
    Re-establishing bile acid composition after treatment of recurrent <i>Clostridioides difficile</i> infection with fecal microbiota transplantation compared with oral vancomycin or a 12-strain bacterial mixture.

    Rode AA, Duboc H, Lamazière A, Rainteau D, Humbert L, Gauliard E, Chehri M, Petersen AM, Helms M, Schønning K… · 2026-04-17

    open access unreviewed
  8. 8
    A bile acid-GPBAR1 network supports anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic benefits of probiotics in colitis.

    Biagioli M, Di Giorgio C, Marchianò S, Sensini B, Urbani G, Giannelli E, Lachi G, Massa C, Sette MR, Paniconi… · 2026-03-18

    cited 1× open access unreviewed
  9. 9
    Growth factor applications and clinical translation: advances and challenges.

    Tu Y, Li B, Zheng S, Qu G, Li M, Li S, Shao C. · 2026-03-16

    cited 1× open access unreviewed
  10. 10
    Multi-target protective effects of <i>Agrimonia pilosa</i> Ledeb. against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis in mice.

    Fu X, You J, Yang Y, Qi S, Yang S, Qu X, Shao Y, Wang N, Wang Z, Li Y, Zheng M, Yang H, Zhao J, He X, He Y. · 2026-03-09

    open access unreviewed

External claims. These come from an index outside this database and are not checked against it. Treat them as leads.