Bile salts, intestinal microflora and enterohepatic circulation.

Use of probiotic therapy implies an attempt to maintain the normal bacterial flora or to alter the bacterial flora so that organisms beneficial to the host are nurtured. We also know that the bacterial flora are essential in the deconjugation and transformation of bile acid metabolism. The relationships of the bile acids to intestinal bacteria and their recurrent exposure in the enterohepatic circulation are discussed.