Abstract
Summary
Seven species of desert rodents representing three families were used to investigate bile acid composition of the bile acid pool isolated from the gall bladder. Cholic acid (CA) was the common primary bile acid among all species. The other primary acid chenodeoxycholic acid (CDOCA) was detected in all species but one.
The ratio CA:CDOCA differed from species to species. The secondary metabolic products of CA and CDOCA showed a different pattern among the seven species and deoxycholic acid was a prominent feature of all species. Additional studies are needed to fully understand the role of ecologic distribution, phylogeny, and nutrition on bile acid composition.
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