Bile acid sequesterants are drugs that act by binding with the bile produced by the liver. Bile helps the digestion and absorption of fats in the intestine. By blocking the digestion of fats, bile acid sequesterants prevent the formation of cholesterol.

Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals. Bile salts are bile acids compounded with a cation, usually sodium. In humans, the salts of taurocholic acidand glycocholic acid (derivatives of cholic acid) represent approximately eighty percent of all bile salts. Bile acids, glycine and taurine conjugates, and 7-alpha-dehydroxylated derivatives (deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid) are all found in human intestinal bile. An increase in bile flow is exhibited with an increased secretion of bile acids. The main function of bile acid is to facilitate the formation of micelles, which promotes processing of dietary fat

Calcium acetate has the formula of Ca(C2H3O2)2. It is a chemical compound which is a calcium salt of acetic acid, and acts as a stabilizer, buffer and sequestrant.

A bile salt is the sodium of a bile acid, produced by the bile to neutralize the products leaving the stomach and to emulsify fatty material in it.

Bile is produced in liver