474-25-9

History

Chenodeoxycholic acid was isolated in 1924 from goose gall by Adolf Windaus and human gall by Heinrich Wieland.Its complete structural configuation was elucidated by Hans Lettre at the University of Gottingen. In 1968, William Admirand and Donald Small at Boston University Medical School established that in patients with gallstones their bile was saturated with cholesterol, sometimes even exhibiting microcrystals, whereas this was not the case in normal people.It was then found that biliary levels of cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid were lower in patients with cholesterol gallstones than in normal people. Leslie Thistle and John Schoenfield at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, then administered individual bile salts by mouth for four months and found that chenodeoxycholic acid reduced the amount of cholesterol in the bile.This led to a national collaborative study in the United States, which confirmed the effectiveness of chenodeoxycholic acid in bringing about dissolution of gallstones in selected patients. However, recent developments such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy and endoscopic biliary techniques have curtailed the role of chenodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid in the treatment of cholelithiasis.

Manufacturing Process

To 1,400 ml of an approximately 50% water/triglycol solution of the potassium salt of chenodeoxycholic acid, obtained by the Wolff-Kishner reduction (using hydrazine hydrate and potassium hydroxide) from 50 g of 7- acetyl-12-ketochenodeoxycholic acid, 220 ml of dilute hydrochloric acid is added to bring the pH to 2. The solution is stirred and the crude chenodeoxycholic acid precipitates. The precipitate is recovered and dried to constant weight at about 60°C. About 36 g of the crude chenodeoxycholic acid, melting in the range of 126°-129°C, is obtained. 25 g of crude chenodeoxycholic acid so obtained is dissolved in 750 ml of acetonitrile while stirring and heating. 3 g of activated charcoal is added and then removed by suction filtering. The resulting liquid filtrate is cooled, the pure chenodeoxycholic acid crystallizing out. The crystals are recovered by suction filtering and the recovered crystals dried under vacuum. The yield is 19 g of pure chenodeoxycholic acid with a melting range of 168°-171°C.

Therapeutic Function

Gallostone dissolving agent

World Health Organization (WHO)

Chenodeoxycholic acid was introduced in 1975 for the treatment of cholelithiasis. It is available in several countries and the World Health Organization is not aware that registration has been refused in any other country.

Flammability and Explosibility

Nonflammable

Purification Methods

This major bile acid in vertebrates (~80mg) is chromatographed on silica gel (5g) and eluted with CHCl3/EtOAc (3:2) and crystallised from EtOAc/hexane. It has IR: max 1705 cm-1(CHCl3). It also crystallises from EtOAc, EtOAc/heptane after purifying via the poorly soluble Na and K salt if necessary. [Kametani et al. J Org Chem 4 7 2331 1982, Beilstein 10 IV 1604.]

Brand name

CHEWM

General Description

Chenodeoxycholic acid is a bile acid synthesized in the liver from cholesterol.