Delta 22-beta-muricholic acid in monoassociated rats and conventional rats

Bile acids were analyzed in the bile, small and large intestines, and feces of germ-free rats after a single inoculation with one of six intestinal bacteria that had been originally isolated from human feces. Bacteroides vulgatus and Bifidobacterium longum preferentially deconjugated tauro-beta-muricholic acid and taurocholic acid, respectively. Clostridium ramosum, Peptostreptococcus productus and Lactobacillus gasseri deconjugated both bile acids, but Escherichia coli did not deconjugate either one. Rats inoculated with bacteria that deconjugated tauro-beta-muricholic acid produced delta 22-beta-muricholic acid in the feces. In contrast, delta 22-cholic acid could not be detected in rats inoculated with bacteria that deconjugated taurocholic acid.