5a-Cholestane-3a,7a,12a-triol

The major bile salt of the carp, Cyprinm carpio, is 5a-cyprinol sulfate [21]. When [4- C]cholesterol was injected intraperitoneally into the carp, radioactive 5a-cyprinol was isolated from gallbladder bile [148]. It has been shown that the initial step in the major pathway for the formation of 5a-cyprinol (VI) from cholesterol (XV) is the 7a-hydroxylation of cholesterol to form cholest-5-ene-3j8,7a-diol (XVI) [149] (Fig. 4). It has also been shown that the double bond is isomerized to the A position before being reduced [150]. These in vivo studies suggest that until the intermediary formation of a A compound, presumably 7 ,12a-dihydroxycholest-4-en-3-one (XVII), the sequence of reactions in the biosynthesis of 5 -cyprinol (VI) in the carp is the same as that in the conversion of cholesterol (XV) to cholic acid (XIV) in mammals. 7a,12a-Dihydroxycholest-4-en-3-one (XVII) was found to be converted into 5a-cholestane-3a,7a,12a-triol (XVIII) by the microsomal fraction of carp hver fortified with NADPH [151]. The conversion of the triol (XVIII) to 5a-cyprinol (VI) via 27-deoxy-5a-cyprinol (XIX) was also established. The 26-hydroxylation of the triol (XVIII) was catalyzed by the microsomal fraction fortified with NADPH, and the 27-hydroxylation of 27-deoxy-5a-cyprinol (XIX) was catalyzed by the mitochondrial fraction fortified with NADPH [151]. 

Hoshita et al. have shown that liver microsomes from the green iguana, in which the major biliary bile salt is tauroallocholate, convert 7a,12a-dihydroxycholest-4-en-3-one (XVII) into 5a-cholestane-3a,7a,12a-triol (XVIII) rather than into 5)8-choles-tane-3 ,7a,12a-triol (VIII) which is involved in cholic acid biosynthesis [164]. On the basis of this result and that obtained from studies with carp liver [151], it can be assumed that 5a-bile acids and alcohols are formed from cholesterol by a modification of the biosynthetic pathway to the corresponding 5y8 isomers in which the only difference is the stereospedfic saturation of the A double bond of the intermediate XVII. 

Fig. 6. Conversion of cholesterol into allocholanoic acids. I, Cholesterol II, 5-cholestene-3/5,7a-diol III, 7a-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one XXIV, cholestanol XXV, 5a-choles-tane-3i ,7a-diol XXVI, 7a hydroxy-5a-cholestan-3-one XXVII, 5a-cholestane-3a,7a-diol XXVIII, 5a-cholestane-3a,7a,12a-triol XXIX, allochenodeoxycholic acid XXX, allocholic acid.

The formation of 27-deoxy-5a-cyprinol and 5a-cyprinol in the carp has been shown by Hoshita (121) and Masui et al. (178) to involve 26(27)-hydroxylation of 5a-cholestane-3a,7a,12a-triol, catalyzed by the microsomal fraction fortified with NADPH, followed by 26(27)-hydroxylation of 27-deoxy-5a-cyprinol, catalyzed by the mitochondrial fraction fortified with NADPH. 

In a study by Ali and Elliott it was shown that 5a-cholestane-3 ,7a-diol was an even better substrate for the 12a-hydroxylase in rabbit liver microsomes than 7a-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one (156%) [104]. This reaction is probably of importance in the formation of allocholic add. The high specificity of the 12 -hydroxylase towards the coplanar 5a-sterol nucleus is also evident from the finding that allochenodeoxycholic acid can be converted into allocholic acid in rats, both in vivo and in vitro [105,106, Chapter 11]. Based on the known structural requirements of the 12a-hydroxylase, Shaw and Elliott prepared competitive inhibitors with different substitutions in the C,2 position [107]. The best inhibitor of those tested was found to be 5a-cholest-ll-ene-3a,7 ,26-triol. Theoretically, such inhibitors may be used to increase the endogenous formation of chenodeoxycholic acid in connection with dissolution of gallstones. 

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