Features of bile acid metabolism in fish

Abstract

The fish liver is an important organ involved in the complex metabolism of bile and bile acids. The biochemical reactions that occur during this process directly depend on the functional state of the digestive system and fish nutrition. Knowledge of the features of bile acid metabolism will allow designing the cheapest and at the same time effective drugs for the pharmacological correction of hepatopathy. The composition of bile acids depends on the type of food, so in fish such as pike, perch, carp, cholic and deoxycholic acids conjugated with taurine are more common. In predatory fish, cholic acid predominates, in contrast to benthivorous fish. Substances secreted with bile do not participate in the general metabolism of tissues, so that hepatocytes do not need to constantly secrete large volumes of bile.
The metabolism of bile acids is carried out by the liver and is called the enterohepatic circulation. It all starts with the biological precursor of bile acids - cholesterol. Cholesterol in the body is formed during the absorption of lipids in the intestine. Two-thirds of exogenous cholesterol is excreted from the body in the form of bile acids. As a result of transformation by hepatocytes, primary bile acids are formed - cholic and chenodioxycholic. Then they are cojugated with taurine or glycine in the C-24 region of the carboxyl group and are excreted from hepatocytes continuously through the bile ducts to the gallbladder and further to the intestine. In the intestine, under the influence of microbial metabolites, they are hydroxylated and converted into secondary bile acids. Cholic becomes deoxycholic, and chenodisoxycholic becomes lithocholic. A small amount of bile acids are in a free state and form paired compounds. 90% of bile acids in the intestine form complexes of choleic acids in combination with fatty acids, which are absorbed through the wall of enterocytes. In enterocytes, these complexes again disintegrate and bile acids again enter the liver through the portal vein. Thus the circle of metabolism is closed.