Chenodeoxycholic acid

Chenodeoxycholic acid is a bile acid, a white crystalline substance insoluble in water, with melting point at 165-167 °C. Its salts is called chenodeoxycholates. Chenodeoxycholic acid is one of the 4 main organic acids produced by the liver. It is soluble in alcohol and acetic acid.

Chenodeoxycholic acid is synthetized in the liver from cholesterol.

Chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid are the most important human bile acids. Some other mammals synthetize predominantly deoxycholic acid.

The Australian biotechnology company Giaconda has developed a treatment for Hepatitis C infection that combines chenodeoxycholic acid with bezafibrate.