PHYSICOCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF BILE-SALTS

Roles and potential roles of bile salts in the human body and in health are reviewed. The nomenclature of these biological amphiphiles, the mechanism of their formation in the liver and subsequent structural modifications in the enterohepatic cycle are summarized. Emphasis is placed on the controversies surrounding their physico-chemical properties, especially the patterns of their aggregation, and their ability to catalyze hydrolysis pathways in aqueous solution and to stimulate the activity of human milk lipase. The role of bile salts as biological surfactants and their participation in the dissolution of cholesterol gallstones, lipid solubilization and absorption, and their ability to cause lysis of membrane surfaces has been discussed. Where possible, emphasis is placed on the importance of the presence of monomers or small oligomers on the physico-chemical properties of these steroidal molecules.