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Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Biotransformation of chenodeoxycholic acid by human intestinal fungi and the agonistic effects on FXR
Xuemei Wei1, Changliang Yao2, Xin He2
1National Engineering Research Center of TCM Standardization Technology, Shanghai Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China.
Abstract:
Bile acids play a vital role in modulating host metabolism, with chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) standing out as a primary bile acid that naturally activates farnesoid X receptor (FXR). In this study, we investigated the microbial transformations of CDCA by seven human intestinal fungal species. Our findings revealed that hydroxylation and dehydrogenation were the most prevalent metabolic pathways. Incubation of CDCA with Rhizopus microspores (PT2906) afforded eight undescribed compounds (6-13) alongside five known analogs (1-5) which were elucidated by HRESI-MS and NMR data. Notably, compounds 8, 12 and 13 exhibited an inhibitory effect on FXR in contrast to the FXR activation observed with CDCA in vitro assays. This study shone a light on the diverse transformations of CDCA by intestinal fungi, unveiling potential modulators of FXR activity with implications for host metabolism.
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