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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 May 6.
Published in final edited form as: Compr Physiol. 2013 Jul;3(3):1191–1212. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c120023

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Enterohepatic circulation of bile acids. An average man produces ~0.5g bile acid per day by synthesis in the liver, and secretes ~0.5g/day. This daily turnover of bile acids accounts for about 5% of total bile acid pool. The remaining 95% of bile acids in the pool are recycled 4 to 12 times a day. Most bile acids are reabsorbed in the ileum by active transport, while a small amount is reabsorbed by passive diffusion in the upper intestine to portal blood for circulation to the liver. Small amounts of bile acids spilled over into the systemic circulation are recovered in kidney.