Oxidoreductases and Dehydroxylases

Aries and Hill (58), during the course of their investigations of degradation of steroids by intestinal bacteria, prepared partially purified extracts of several microorganisms, such as Clostridium, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, and Enterobacterium, possessing enzymatic activity catalyzing the oxido-reduction of the la- and 12a-hydroxy groups in bile acids, as well as the 7- 

In this chapter, the author has chosen to describe only those reactions on bile acids that have been demonstrated by the use of cell-free preparations. Because of this, a large number of other metabolic reactions carried out by, for example, microorganisms during their growth and multiplication in media enriched with bile salts are not included here, although admittedly many of them are enzyme-mediated reactions. The constraints placed by the definition in the first sentence of this paragraph has made this chapter rather selective but also serves to alert the reader that this area of bile salt metabolism is still in its infancy and is open to further investigation. 

Bergstrom, M. Rottenberg, and J. Voltz, Hoppe-Seylers Z. Physiol. Chem. 295, 278 (1953). 

Norman and R. Grubb, Acta Pathol. Microbiol. Scand. 36, 537 (1955). 

ACTION OF HYPOLIPIDEMIC DRUGS ON BILE ACID METABOLISM  

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