Background

Bear bile, one of the most famous animal drugs in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has been recorded in ancient Chinese medicine book as a significant method to treat hepatic and biliary disorders. UDCA, the effective ingredient of bear bile.Aside from the traditional use of bear bile in Chinese medicine, UDCA(ursodeoxycholic acid), the effective ingredient of bear bile acid, has a much larger pharmaceutical application. As well as the usage of UDCA in dissolving gallstone, its efficacy in primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) as an adjunct to medical therapy has been well established. Newer indications include its use in the management of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, post liver transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease and acute viral hepatitis, where it not only relieves symptoms of cholestasis but also arrests ongoing hepatocyte necrosis. However, the increasing demand for bear bile has caused bears to be in an endangered state: bear poaching and illegal animal trade have greatly dwindled the number of the wild Asiatic black bear. Apart from that, bear bile farming industry in Asia extracts bile through “milking” from the bears, which is operated through surgically implanting a permanent catheter in the animal's gallbladder to obtain the drips. It is unquestionable that the bear bile farming process will lead to both physical and psychological damage in bears.