Udcacid 300 Mechanism of Action

Pharmacology: Pharmacokinetics: Ursodeoxycholic acid is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and undergoes enterohepatic recycling. It is partly conjugated in the liver before being excreted into the bile. Under the influence of intestinal bacteria, the free and conjugated forms undergo 7α-dehydroxylation to lithocholic acid, some of which is excreted directly in the faeces and the rest is absorbed and mainly conjugated and sulfated by the liver before excretion. However, in comparison with chenodeoxycholic acid less ursodeoxycholic acid undergoes such bacterial degradation.
Pharmacodynamics: Bile acids are among the most important components of the bile and play a role in the stimulation of bile secretion. Bile acids are also important to keep the cholesterol in bile in solution. In a healthy person, the ratio between the concentration of cholesterol and bile acids in the bile is such that the cholesterol will remain in solution for most of the day. In this case, no gallstones can form (the bile is non-lithogenic). In patients with cholesterol stones in the bile, this ratio is changed and the bile is supersaturated with cholesterol (bile is lithogenic). This may cause a precipitation of cholesterol crystals and the formation of gallstones after some time.
The ursodeoxycholic acid converts lithogenic bile in non-lithogenic bile and gradually dissolves the cholesterol gallstones. Investigations of the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid on the cholestasis in patients with impaired biliary drainage and on the clinical symptoms in patients with primary biliary cholangitis and cystic fibrosis have shown that cholestatic symptoms in the blood (to be measured by the increased value of alkaline phosphatase (AF), gamma-GT and bilirubin) and the itch declined rapidly, while also the fatigue decreased in the majority of patients. Moreover, studies seem to indicate a positive benefit-risk ratio of the ursodeoxycholic acid in children and young adult cystic fibrosis patients with mild to moderate hepatobiliary disorders.
From clinical reports, long-term experience of 10 years and more has been gained with UDCA therapy in paediatric patients suffering from cystic fibrosis associated hepatobiliary disorders (CFAHD). There is evidence that treatment with changes, if it happens at an early stage of CFAHD. The treatment with UDCA should be started as soon as the CFAHD diagnosis is made in order to optimize the effectiveness of the treatment.