Roles of bile acid conjugates and phospholipids in in vitro activation of pancreatic lipase by bear bile and cattle bile.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Bear bile (BB) originally used as a traditional Chinese medicine has also been adopted in Japan as a traditional home remedy mainly for gastrointestinal problems due to impaired digestion. However, recently, efforts have been made to find alternatives to BB for ecological and ethical reasons.

Aims Of The Study: To find alternatives to BB for facilitating fat digestion, we compared the potency of cattle bile (CB) or synthetic mixtures of major bile components to activate pancreatic lipase with that of BB.