Bile Salts

Bile acids are steroid acids found in the bile of mammals and other vertebrates. They form a large family of molecules composed of a steroid structure with four rings, a five- or eight-carbon side-chain terminating in a carboxylic acid, and several hydroxyl groups, the number and orientation of which is different among the specific bile salts. Bile acids synthetized in the liver and are conjugated with taurine. Sodium and potassium salts of these conjugated bile acids are called bile salts.