Deoxycholic Acid Methyl Ester — a Novel Bacterial Metabolite of Cholic Acid

Summary Methyl deoxycholate was identified as a novel bacterial metabolite of cholate, produced anaerobically by strains of most saccharolytic Bacteroides species ( B. distasonis, B. eggerthii, B. fragilis, B. incommunis, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. uniformis, B. variabilis, B. vulgatus , and unnamed species). It was also detected with a few strains of Eubacterium and Lactobacillus species. Among 2476 freshly isolated human fecal cultures the frequency of carboxyl group esterification was comparable with that of 7α-dehydroxylation (92 versus 102 cultures). Both activities were, however, lost for unknown reasons after serial transfers. Two of ten mixed fecal cultures tested esterified 3α,7α- or …