El ácido cólico es un ácido biliar, una sustancia blanca cristalina insoluble en agua, con un punto de fusión de 200-201 °C. Las sales del ácido cólico se denominan colatos. El ácido cólico es uno de los cuatro ácidos que produce el hígado sintetizado a partir colesterol. Es soluble en alcohol y en ácido acético. Forma un conjugado con el aminoácido taurina, dando lugar a ácido taurocólico. El ácido cólico y el ácido quenodesoxicólico son los ácidos biliares humanos más importantes. Otros mamíferos sintetizan primordialmente el ácido desoxicólico. \n* El ácido cólico también se denomina 3α,7α,12α-trihidroxi-5β-ácido colánico. \n* Su fórmula química simple es: C24H40O5. \n* Su fómula lineal simplificada es :C[C@@]34[C@] (CC[C@@H]4[C@@H] (CCC(O)=O)C) ([H])[C@]2([H]) [C@H](O)C[C@]1 ([H])C[C@H](O) CC[C@@](C)1[C@] ([H])2C[C@@H]3O

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Cholic acid, also known as 3α,7α,12α-trihydroxy-5β-cholan-24-oic acid is a primary bile acid that is insoluble in water (soluble in alcohol and acetic acid), it is a white crystalline substance. Salts of cholic acid are called cholates. Cholic acid, along with chenodeoxycholic acid, is one of the two major bile acids produced by the liver, where it is synthesized from cholesterol. These two major bile acids are roughly equal in concentration in humans. Derivatives are made from cholyl-CoA, which exchanges its CoA with either glycine, or taurine, yielding glycocholic and taurocholic acid, respectively. Cholic acid downregulates cholesterol-7-α-hydroxylase (rate-limiting step in bile acid synthesis), and cholesterol does the opposite. This is why chenodeoxycholic acid, and not cholic acid, can be used to treat gallstones (because decreasing bile acid synthesis would supersaturate the stones even more). Cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid are the most important human bile acids. Other species may synthesize different bile acids as their predominant primary bile acids. Cholic acid, formulated as Cholbam capsules, is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for children and adults with bile acid synthesis disorders due to single enzyme defects, and for peroxisomal disorders (such as Zellweger syndrome).

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