Lithocholic acid (LCA) is a secondary bile acid that is formed in the intestine by the bacteria and can activate the pregnane X and the vitamin D receptors. In humans, elevated levels of LCA are found in patients suffering from the chronic cholestatic liver disease. Whereas in normal colonic epithelium lithocholic acid promotes apoptosis, it has been shown to possess anti-tumor effect in human neuroblastoma cell lines. In addition, was proposed, that LCA could kill cancer cells and increase the longevity of non-cancerous cells by causing quite opposite effects on the same kind of mitochondria-confined processes in these two different cell types.