Hydrophobicity and Self-association of Bile Acids with a Special Emphasis on Oxo Derivatives of 5-β Cholanic Acid

The article is an extensive review of the influence of the structure of bile acids on their hydrophobicity as expressed via the retention parameters of reverse phase chromatography and via the 1-octanol/water partition coefficients. The emphasis of the discussion is on the relationship beween the structure of the steroid skeleton of bile acids and their self-association. Finally, the lipohilicity of bile acids and its role in their interaction with biological systems is also discussed.