21H-Biline-8,12-dipropanoic acid, 3,18-diethyl-1,2,3,4,5,15,16,17,18,19,22,24-dodecahydro-2,7,13,17-tetramethyl-1,19-dioxo-, hydrochloride, (2R,3R,4S,16S,17R,18R)- (9CI)

Stercobilin is a fecal pigment and a metabolite of the heme catabolite bilirubin .¹ It induces DNA damage in a comet assay in HepG2 cells when used at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 17 μM.² Stercobilin (20 and 30 μM) induces activation of NF-κB in a reporter assay and increases the expression of the genes encoding TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and COX-2 in RAW 264.7 macrophages.³ Fecal and plasma levels of stercobilin are increased in ob/ob mice.

1. Vítek, L., Majer, F., Muchová, L., et al. Identification of bilirubin reduction products formed by Clostridium perfringens isolated from human neonatal fecal flora J. Chromatogr. B Analyt. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci. 833(2),149-157(2006).
2. M?lzer, C., Pfleger, B., Putz, E., et al. In vitro DNA-damaging effects of intestinal and related tetrapyrroles in human cancer cells Exp. Cell Res. 319(4),536-545(2013).
3. Sanada, S., Suzuki, T., Nagata, A., et al. Intestinal microbial metabolite stercobilin involvement in the chronic inflammation of ob/ob mice Sci. Rep. 10(1),6479(2020).