Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (also known as TUDCA) is an ambiphilic bile acid. It is the taurine conjugate form of ursodeoxycholic acid. Humans are found to have trace amounts of TUDCA.

TUDCA is a chemical naturally produced in the human body and also in bears. The main difference is that bears have a lot more TUDCA compared to humans. You might be surprised because nowadays TUDCA found in bears and humans are used to treat liver diseases in humans. When TUDCA is produced naturally in the body it is in a form of a salt before it turns into TUDCA. It is a bile salt, when it reaches the intestines, it is transformed to UDCA. UDCA is then combined with taurine; this mixture will lead to the production of TUDCA. UDCA or ursodeoxycholic acid is used to treat cholestatic liver disease. TUDCA is a bile acid so it functions to digest and absorb nutrients and vitamins needed by the body. In addition, TUDCA is a metabolite of UDCA which means that it has similar effects.