Formation of delta 22-bile acids in rats is not gender specific and occurs in the peroxisome.

We recently demonstrated that the formation of delta 22-bile acids is a quantitatively major pathway for normal bile acid synthesis in the adult male Sprague-Dawley rat. This pathway is specific for 7 beta-hydroxy bile acids and, when ursodeoxycholic acid is administered, delta 22-ursodeoxycholic acid appears as a major metabolite in the liver tissue, bile, intestinal contents, and plasma. The aims of this study were, therefore, to determine whether this metabolic pathway was gender specific, and to establish that the peroxisome is a site of formation of delta 22-bile acids. Bile acids were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in liver tissue, jejunum, and plasma of adult female rats and in animals fed a diet containing 0.4% and 1% ursodeoxycholic acid. Bile acid metabolism in female rats was found to be similar to that of male rats, and delta 22-beta-muricholic acid, rather than beta-muricholate, was likewise confirmed as the major muricholic acid synthesized. Ursodeoxycholic acid administration resulted in the appearance of delta 22-ursodeoxycholic acid as a major metabolite. When adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with clofibrate, a drug that induces peroxisomal proliferation, liver weight increased 40-60% and total bile acid synthesis decreased markedly, but the relative composition of individual bile acids was unchanged. When ursodeoxycholic acid was added to the diet, the proportion of delta 22-bile acids relative to the corresponding saturated analogues increased significantly compared with untreated rats, indicating that clofibrate had "amplified" the pathway for formation of delta 22-bile acids. When UDCA was incubated in vitro with a peroxisomal-enriched fraction from normal adult male rat liver, delta 22-ursodeoxycholic acid was formed in proportions comparable to that observed in vivo when this bile acid was given orally. These studies establish that the pathway for the formation of delta 22-bile acids is not gender specific and mainly occurs in hepatic peroxisomes.