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Bile acids (BAs) are known to regulate their own homeostasis, but the potency of individual bile acids is not known. This study examined the effects of cholic acid (CA), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), deoxycholic acid (DCA), lithocholic acid (LCA) and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) on expression of BA synthesis and transport genes in human primary hepatocyte cultures. Hepatocytes were treated with the individual BAs at 10, 30, and 100μM for 48 h, and RNA was extracted for real-time PCR analysis. For the classic pathway of BA synthesis, BAs except for UDCA markedly suppressed CYP7A1 (70–95%), the rate-limiting enzyme of bile acid synthesis, but only moderately (35%) down-regulated CYP8B1 at a high concentration of 100μM. BAs had minimal effects on mRNA of two enzymes of the alternative pathway of BA synthesis, namely CYP27A1 and CYP7B1. BAs increased the two major target genes of the …