Ditch your MILKTHISTLE - pick up TUDCA...

[tballz]

What's the significance of taurine attached to it? Can't you just supplement taurine with udca?

[Atomini]

What's the significance of taurine attached to it? Can't you just supplement taurine with udca?

Supplementing taurine with it is NOT the same as it being tauroursodeoxycholic acid, where the taurine amino acid is actually chemically bonded to the ursodeoxycholic acid structure. That's like saying throwing wheels in the back of the trunk of your car is the same thing as driving with the wheels ON the car. As I mentioned prior, TUDCA is claimed to provide superior bioavailability over straight UDCA. But it hasn't been proven.

TUDCA is just a conjugate of UDCA. They are the exact same thing, they do the same job, they are reduced to the same stuff when processed in the GI tract.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...030.x/abstract

http://www.gastrojournal.org/article...*45-3/abstract

EDIT:

From the first link:

Conclusions  
After oral administration of TUDCA and UDCA, no significant differences in their absorption and in biliary bile acid secretion exist. Whether biliary enrichment with taurine conjugates of UDCA instead of glycine conjugates offers advantages in the treatment of cholestatic liver disease is unclear at present.

From the second link:

COnclusions: Low doses of TUDCA and UDCA protect Hep G2 cells from EtOH-induced cytotoxicity. However, TUDCA seems to be more effective than UDCA in reversing the damage.