Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), also known as ursodiol, is a naturally-occurring bile acid that constitutes a minor fraction of the human bile acid pool. UDCA has been used to treat liver disease for decades: its first use in traditional medicine dates back more than a hundred years. UDCA was first characterized in the bile of the Chinese black bear and is formed by 7b-epimerization of chenodeoxycholic acid, which is a primary bile acid. Due to its hydrophilicity, UDCA is less toxic than cholic acid or chenodeoxycholic acid.
UDCA was first approved by the FDA in 1987 for dissolution of gallstones and for primary biliary cirrhosis in 1996. UDCA works by replacing the hydrophobic or more toxic bile acids from the bile acid pool.
Ursodeoxycholic acid is indicated for the treatment of patients with primary biliary cholangitis.
It is used for the short-term treatment of radiolucent, noncalcified gallbladder stones in patients selected for elective cholecystectomy. It is also used to prevent gallstone formation in obese patients experiencing rapid weight loss.
Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command (formerly called General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area), Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Daniel Stein, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
Xijing hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Xijing hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt
Xijing Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
SoonChunHyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
The second hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
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