Chenodeoxycholic acid is a bile acid that induces apoptosis through protein kinase C signaling pathways.Chenodeoxycholic acid is widely utilized in therapeutic applications. It is applied in medical therapy to dissolve gallstones. It is employed in the treatment of cerebrotendineous xanthomatosis. It is used to treat constipation and cerebrotendineous xanthomatosis. It acts as a urea receptor in supramolecular chemistry which can contain anions. It is a staining additive commonly used with ruthenium or organic photo-sensitizers in the preparation of staining solutions for dye solar cells.

Chenodeoxycholic acid is a bile acid synthesized in the liver from cholesterol. henodeoxycholic acid has been used in a study to assess its effects as a long-term replacement therapy for cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX). It has also been used in a study to investigate its effects on the small-intestinal absorption of bile acids in patients with ileostomies.

Chenodeoxycholic Acid, Free Acid and its 7β-isomer ursodeoxycholic acid (sc-204935), are potent (nanomolar affinity) selective inhibitors of DD2 (AKR1C2). These compounds were non-competitive inhibitors of AKR1D1 yielding K_i values of 3.2 μM for chenodeoxycholic acid. This chemical is a hydrophobic primary bile acid, which increases intracellular Ca²⁺ in rat hepatocyte couplets. Studies indicate that Chenodeoxycholic Acid induces apoptosis through a PKC dependent pathway. It is known that Chenodeoxycholic Acid is essential in the metabolism of cholesterol via activation of nuclear receptors. This bile acid can also bind to BABP with a stoichiometery of 1:2. Alternate studies indicate that chenodeoxycholic acid can inhibit the expression of IL-6 and cell viability in QBC939 cells.