bile acid

American  

noun

Physiology.

1. any of various steroid acids, produced in the liver and stored with bile, that emulsify fats during digestion.

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Etymology

Origin of bile acid

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

The enzyme modifies human- and mouse-generated bile acids and changes their configurations by, for example, adding amino acids, leading to new molecules known as bacteria bile acid amidates, or BBAAs.

From Science Daily • Feb. 29, 2024

Ashley Hall, 36, from Witney, Oxfordshire, suffers from Type 1 Diabetes and was recently diagnosed with bile acid malabsorption.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2024

The others are bile acid resins, niacin, ezetimibe, PCSK9 inhibitors and CETPi.

From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2023

The agency added that taurursodiol, a bile acid, may cause worsening diarrhea in patients with disorders that interfere with bile acid circulation and urged those individuals to talk to a specialist before taking the treatment.

From Washington Post • Sep. 29, 2022

In 2017, Cryan reported that when mice with an autism-like condition had lower levels of Bifidobacterium and Blautia gut bacteria, their guts made less tryptophan and bile acid — compounds needed to produce serotonin3.

From Nature • Jan. 28, 2020