The Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Cancer Effects of Bear Bile

Bear bile powder is a processed product of the bile of brown bears or black bears (family Ursidae). Nowadays it is mainly obtained by artificially draining bear bile and then drying it. The main components of bear bile powder are bile acids; its conjugated bile acids are mainly tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) and taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA). Non-bile-acid components include cholesterol, amino acids, bile pigments, proteins and polypeptides, and a few trace metals. Both TUDCA and TCDCA in bear bile powder have certain anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects, among which the main medicinal component is ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA).

Natural bear bile powder is relatively difficult to obtain and expensive, but its main medicinal component, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), can be artificially synthesized, and its medicinal value is identical to the natural product. Natural UDCA is derived from cholesterol and makes up only a small fraction of human bile acids. Now we can mass-produce UDCA through chemical synthesis or biotechnology, both avoiding harm to protected bears and meeting medical needs. The ursodeoxycholic acid capsules and tablets sold on the market can basically serve as substitutes for bear bile powder; I often use them this way. UDCA tablets or capsules are also more hygienic and safer than natural bear bile powder.

At present, ursodeoxycholic acid tablets or capsules are mainly approved for treating cholelithiasis (gallstones). UDCA helps dissolve gallstones, but its actual medicinal value goes beyond this. UDCA works by reducing cholesterol production in the liver while blocking excessive cholesterol absorption in the intestine, lowering the concentration of cholesterol in bile, thereby shrinking and even eliminating gallstones. If patients can control cholesterol intake in their diet during treatment, the therapeutic effect will be better.

UDCA also has a good therapeutic effect on jaundice caused by chronic viral hepatitis B. Some scholars have found that UDCA can achieve an effective rate as high as 85% in treating intractable jaundice caused by hepatitis B. Ready-made medicines containing bear bile powder or UDCA—such as bear bile capsules, UDCA tablets, Ganpikang capsules, and Tanreqing injection (whose ingredients include bear bile powder, Scutellaria, and goat horn)—all have certain efficacy in treating many diseases of the hepatobiliary system, such as hepatitis, jaundice, gallstones, gallbladder polyps, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer.

Traditional TCM holds that bear bile is bitter in taste and cold in nature, entering the liver, gallbladder, and heart meridians. It clears heat and detoxifies, clears the liver and improves vision, and extinguishes wind and stops spasms. It is mainly used for sores and swellings, furuncles, malignant ulcers, hemorrhoids, sudden conjunctivitis, corneal opacity, canthus ulceration, dizziness and blurred vision (hypertension), and similar conditions.

Modern pharmacological research has found that bear bile also has antitussive, expectorant, anti-asthmatic, digestive, analgesic, anti-fatigue, anti-aging, antispasmodic, anticonvulsant, antipyretic, blood-glucose-lowering, blood-pressure-lowering, anti-thrombotic, anti-hypoxic cell injury, cardioprotective and cerebrovascular-protective, and antimicrobial effects.

Modern pharmacological studies show that the main components of bear bile have anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-cancer, and anti-leukemic effects, and can inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer cells, leukemia K562 cells, colorectal cancer cells, and myeloma cells. Its anti-cancer mechanism may be related to UDCA's inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation, down-regulation of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway of COX-2, and mediation of cancer cell apoptosis. In addition, bear bile powder can also inhibit tumor microvessel formation by suppressing the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGFR2.

UDCA can also induce apoptosis in melanoma M14 cells through a caspase-dependent mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Theoretically, UDCA tablets can therefore serve as an adjuvant treatment for melanoma.

Bear bile powder protects the liver and promotes bile secretion. It can raise serum glutathione levels and serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, reduce oxidative stress damage such as reactive oxygen species, and inhibit liver carcinogenesis. Glutathione can lower the liver cancer risk in patients with hepatitis B, drug-induced liver injury, and alcoholic liver disease, so patients with chronic hepatitis, drug-induced liver damage, and alcoholic liver disease can use it to prevent liver cancer. In terms of this effect, patients can directly choose reduced glutathione tablets (brand name Atolmoran) instead of bear bile powder; it is both economical and hygienically safe.

As public awareness of animal protection grows, natural bear bile powder may gradually withdraw from the medicinal market. But encouragingly, the key active components of bear bile powder all have chemically or biosynthetically produced substitutes. These substitutes not only lower medicinal costs but also reduce side effects; we welcome this progress.