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Updated: Jul 10, 2026
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Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Supra-molecular association and polymorphic behaviour in systems containing bile acid salts
Marco Calabresi1, Patrizia Andreozzi, Camillo La Mesa
1Dipartimento di Chimica and SOFT-INFM-CNR Research Centre, Università La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro 5, Roma, I-00185, Italy.
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
|October 26, 2007
Summary
Bile salts and water form diverse structures like gels and liquid crystals. These transformations are driven by unique forces, including hydrogen bonds, and may relate to diseases.
Area of Science:
- Supramolecular Chemistry
- Biophysical Chemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Bile salts (BS) are crucial in biological systems, forming complex solutions with water.
- These solutions exhibit diverse supramolecular organization, including molecular, micellar, and condensed phases.
- Understanding these structures is key to comprehending bile salt behavior in various conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the wide range of supramolecular association modes in water-bile salt mixtures.
- To explore the factors influencing the transformation between different phases (e.g., concentration, temperature, additives).
- To identify the driving forces behind the observed polymorphism and their implications.
Main Methods:
- Systematic variation of concentration, temperature, and addition of electrolytes, surfactants, lipids, and proteins.
- Characterization of resulting phases, including amorphous and ordered structures.
- Analysis of intermolecular forces (electrostatic, hydrophobic, hydrogen-bonding) contributing to stability.
Main Results:
- Observed transitions from molecular/micellar solutions to hydrated solids, fibers, lyotropic liquid crystals, and gels.
- Demonstrated control over supramolecular organization through environmental and compositional changes.
- Identified unique hydrogen-bonding contributions to stability, characteristic of bile acids/salts.
Conclusions:
- Bile salt-water mixtures exhibit remarkable polymorphism driven by a combination of forces.
- Hydrogen bonding plays a unique stabilizing role in bile salt supramolecular structures.
- Certain observed organization modes may be linked to in vivo malfunctions and metabolic diseases.
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