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Trade names | Actigall, Urso, others |
Other names | Ursodiol |
AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
MedlinePlus | a699047 |
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Routes of administration | By mouth |
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ECHA InfoCard | 100.004.437 |
Chemical and physical data | |
Formula | C24H40O4 |
Molar mass | 392.580 g·mol−1 |
3D model (JSmol) | |
Melting point | 203 °C (397 °F) |
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Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), also known as ursodiol, is a secondary bile acid, produced in humans and most other species from metabolism by intestinal bacteria. It is synthesized in the liver in some species, and was first identified in bile of bears of genus Ursus , from which its name derived. [8] In purified form, it has been used to treat or prevent several diseases of the liver or bile ducts.
It is available as a generic medication. [9] [10]
UDCA has been used as medical therapy in gallstone disease (cholelithiasis) and for biliary sludge. [11] [12] UDCA helps reduce the cholesterol saturation of bile and leads to gradual dissolution of cholesterol-rich gallstones. [11]
UDCA may be given after bariatric surgery to prevent cholelithiasis, which commonly occurs due to the rapid weight loss producing biliary cholesterol oversaturation and also biliary dyskinesia secondary to hormonal changes. [13]
UDCA is used as therapy in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC; previously known as primary biliary cirrhosis) where it can produce an improvement in biomarkers. [14] Meta-analyses have borne out conflicting results on the mortality benefit. [15] However analyses that exclude trials of short duration (i.e. < 2 years) have demonstrated a survival benefit and are generally considered more clinically relevant. [16] A Cochrane systematic review in 2012 found no significant benefit in reducing mortality, the rate of liver transplantation, pruritus or fatigue. [17] Ursodiol and obeticholic acid are FDA-approved for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis. [18]
UDCA use is associated with improved serum liver tests that do not always correlate with improved liver disease status. [19] WHO Drug Information advises against its use in primary sclerosing cholangitis in unapproved doses beyond 13–15 mg/kg/day. [20]
UDCA in a dose of 28–30 mg/kg/day increases risk of death and need for liver transplant by 2.3-fold among those with primary sclerosing cholangitis, despite decrease in liver enzymes. [21]
UDCA has been used for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. UDCA lessens itching in the mother and may reduce the number of preterm births. Effects on fetal distress and other adverse outcomes are unlikely to be great. [22] [23]
UDCA use is not licensed in children, as its safety and effectiveness have not been established. Evidence is accumulating that ursodeoxycholic acid is ineffective, unsafe and its use is associated with significant risk of morbidity and mortality in neonatal hepatitis and neonatal cholestasis. [24] [25] [26] [27]
UDCA has been suggested to be an adequate treatment of bile reflux gastritis. [28]
In cystic fibrosis there is insufficient evidence to justify routine use of UDCA, especially as there is a lack of available data for long-term outcomes such as death or need for liver transplantation. [29]
UDCA has also been in effective in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, in liver bile duct-paucity syndromes. It has been used as adjunct therapy in conditions with biliary tract obstruction such as biliary atresia; however liver transplant is often still required as definitive treatment for atresia. It is not effective in liver allograft rejection, and in Graft-versus-host disease involving the liver.[ medical citation needed ]
Diarrhea was the most frequent adverse event seen in trial of UDCA in gallstone dissolution, occurring in 2 to 9%, which is less frequent than with chenodeoxycholic acid therapy. Bacterial conversion of UDCA to chenodeoxycholic acid may be the mechanism for this side effect. Right upper quadrant abdominal pain and exacerbation of pruritus was occasionally reported in trials in patients with PBC. [30] Additional symptoms may include bloating, weight gain, and occasionally, thinning of hair. [31]
Primary bile acids are produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. When secreted into the intestine, primary bile acids can be metabolized into secondary bile acids by intestinal bacteria. Primary and secondary bile acids help the body digest fats. Ursodeoxycholic acid helps regulate cholesterol by reducing the rate at which the intestine absorbs cholesterol molecules while breaking up micelles containing cholesterol. The drug reduces cholesterol absorption and is used to dissolve (cholesterol) gallstones in patients who want an alternative to surgery. [32] There are multiple mechanisms involved in cholestatic liver diseases. [33]
Ursodeoxycholic acid has also been shown experimentally to suppress immune response such as immune cell phagocytosis. Prolonged exposure and/or increased quantities of systemic (throughout the body, not just in the digestive system) ursodeoxycholic acid can be toxic. [34]
Ursodeoxycholic acid has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory and protective effects in human epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract. It has been linked to regulation of immunoregulatory responses by regulation of cytokines, [35] antimicrobial peptides defensins, [36] and take an active part in increased restitution of wound in the colon. [37] Moreover, UDCA's effects has been shown to have exert actions outside the epithelial cells. [38]
While some bile acids are known to be colon tumor promoters (e.g. deoxycholic acid), others such as ursodeoxycholic acid are thought to be chemopreventive, perhaps by inducing cellular differentiation and/or cellular senescence in colon epithelial cells. [39]
Ursodeoxycholic acid is an epimer of chenodeoxycholic acid, which has similar choleretic effects and a wider species distribution. However, CDCA is not as well-tolerated in humans and it does not show immunomodulating or chemoprotective effects. Both are 7-hydroxyl derivatives of deoxycholic acid, but UDCA has the group in the beta instead of the alpha orientation. [40]
Among mammals, only bears (Ursidae; excluding giant pandas) produce UDCA at useful amounts [40] (>30%). It is produced in the bear liver, but the pathway remains unknown. [8]
Other vertebrates produce UDCA in much smaller amounts by gut bacteria. CDCA is oxidized into 7-oxo-CDCA then reduced into UDCA. [41]
UDCA is most commonly produced from cholic acid (CA) derived from bovine bile, a by-product of the beef industry. The current yield of this semisynthesis is about 30%. [42]
The term is from the Latin noun ursus meaning bear, as bear bile contains the substance. [43]
Ursodeoxycholic acid can be chemically synthesized and is marketed under multiple trade names, including Ursetor, Udikast, Actibile, Actigall, Biliver, Deursil, Egyurso, Heptiza 300/150, Stener, Udcasid, Udiliv, Udinorm, Udoxyl, Urso, Urso Forte, Ursocol, Ursoliv, Ursofalk, [44] Ursosan, Ursoserinox, Udimarin, and Ursonova.[ citation needed ]
Bear bile, a natural source of UDCA, is used in traditional Chinese medicine since the seventh century. Japanese scientists successfully synthesized UDCA chemically in 1955. [40] The earliest reference to UDCA in PubMed dates to 1957 under an alternative spelling "ursodesoxycholic acid", in a small-scale clinical trial. [45]
Ursodeoxycholic acid (application filed by Allergan) was approved for use in the United States in December 1987, [46] and was designated an orphan drug. [47]
Bile, or gall, is a yellow-green/misty green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water, is produced continuously by the liver, and is stored and concentrated in the gallbladder. After a human eats, this stored bile is discharged into the first section of the small intestine.
A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of migrated gallstones within bile ducts.
Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), previously known as primary biliary cirrhosis, is an autoimmune disease of the liver. It results from a slow, progressive destruction of the small bile ducts of the liver, causing bile and other toxins to build up in the liver, a condition called cholestasis. Further slow damage to the liver tissue can lead to scarring, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis.
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a long-term progressive disease of the liver and gallbladder characterized by inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts, which normally allow bile to drain from the gallbladder. Affected individuals may have no symptoms or may experience signs and symptoms of liver disease, such as yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes, itching, and abdominal pain.
Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common.
Cholangiocarcinoma, also known as bile duct cancer, is a type of cancer that forms in the bile ducts. Symptoms of cholangiocarcinoma may include abdominal pain, yellowish skin, weight loss, generalized itching, and fever. Light colored stool or dark urine may also occur. Other biliary tract cancers include gallbladder cancer and cancer of the ampulla of Vater.
Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a genetic disorder that affects primarily the liver and the heart. Problems associated with the disorder generally become evident in infancy or early childhood. The disorder is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, and the estimated prevalence of Alagille syndrome is 1 in every 30,000 to 1 in every 40,000 live births. It is named after the French pediatrician Daniel Alagille, who first described the condition in 1969. Children with Alagille syndrome live to the age of 18 in about 90% of the cases.
Cholestasis is a condition where the flow of bile from the liver to the duodenum is impaired. The two basic distinctions are:
Chenodeoxycholic acid is a bile acid. Salts of this carboxylic acid are called chenodeoxycholates. Chenodeoxycholic acid is one of the main bile acids. It was first isolated from the bile of the domestic goose, which gives it the "cheno" portion of its name.
Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals and other vertebrates. Diverse bile acids are synthesized in the liver. Bile acids are conjugated with taurine or glycine residues to give anions called bile salts.
Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is a group of familial cholestatic conditions caused by defects in biliary epithelial transporters. The clinical presentation usually occurs first in childhood with progressive cholestasis. This usually leads to failure to thrive, cirrhosis, and the need for liver transplantation.
The biliary tract refers to the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts, and how they work together to make, store and secrete bile. Bile consists of water, electrolytes, bile acids, cholesterol, phospholipids and conjugated bilirubin. Some components are synthesized by hepatocytes ; the rest are extracted from the blood by the liver.
Gallbladder diseases are diseases involving the gallbladder and is closely linked to biliary disease, with the most common cause being gallstones (cholelithiasis).
Hyodeoxycholic acid, also known as 3α,6α-Dihydroxy-5β-cholan-24-oic acid or HDCA, is a secondary bile acid, one of the metabolic byproducts of intestinal bacteria. It differs from deoxycholic acid in that the 6α-hydroxyl is in the 12 position in the former. The 6α-hydroxyl group makes HDCA a hydrophilic acid, a property it shares with hyocholic acid. HDCA is present in mammalian species in different proportions. It is the main acid constituent of hog bile, and for this reason it was used industrially as precursor for steroid synthesis before total synthesis became practical.
Secondary sclerosing cholangitis (SSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease. SSC is a sclerosing cholangitis with a known cause. Alternatively, if no cause can be identified, then primary sclerosing cholangitis is diagnosed. SSC is an aggressive and rare disease with complex and multiple causes. It is characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, destruction of the biliary tree and biliary cirrhosis. It can be treated with minor interventions such as continued antibiotic use and monitoring, or in more serious cases, laparoscopic surgery intervention, and possibly a liver transplant.
Vanishing bile duct syndrome is a loose collection of diseases leading to hepatic bile duct injury and eventual ductopenia.
Ursodoxicoltaurine is the international nonproprietary name (INN) for the pharmaceutical form of tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). It is also known as taurursodiol. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid is a naturally occurring hydrophilic bile acid which is the taurine conjugated form of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Humans have only trace amounts of tauroursodeoxycholic acid but bears have large amounts of tauroursodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid in their bile.
Elafibranor (INN), sold under the brand name Iqirvo, is a medication used for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis.
Obeticholic acid (OCA), sold under the brand name Ocaliva, is a semi-synthetic bile acid analogue which has the chemical structure 6α-ethyl-chenodeoxycholic acid. It is used as a medication used to treat primary biliary cholangitis. Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. hold the worldwide rights to develop OCA outside Japan and China, where it is licensed to Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma.