Metabolic & Cardiometabolic

oleanolic acid activates TGR5

Leans support(preclinical) Metabolic & Cardiometabolic 🐭 Non-human evidence

RefutedContestedStrong support

consensus score 1.00

⚖️ Thin evidence — read the needle loosely. The score shows which way the studies lean, but there are too few independent, high-quality ones to place it firmly. Expect this to move as better evidence arrives.

🔬 Capped to leans support — preclinical evidence only. The raw signal looked like strong support, but a claim about human health can't be graded that high on animal or lab evidence alone. It stays capped until human trials weigh in.

📅 Last reviewed: 2026-08-11 ⓘ

Evidence ladder

How far up the ladder this claim has climbed. A high consensus on a low rung means "consistent so far," not "proven in people."

Top evidence so far: Animal studies (Animal)

MechanismIn-vitroAnimalObservationalRCTMeta-analysis

How the studies fall

3 support 0 contradict 0 tested null 0 mixed · 3 sources, 3 independent groups

What the evidence shows

H3's first arm. Oleanolic acid is a genuine TGR5 agonist and the receptor is the right one — TGR5 activation stimulates GLP-1, unlike FXR which suppresses it (claim-intestinal-fxr-activation-suppresses-glp1).

The evidence (3)

Source	Grade	Stance	Quality	Finding
? 2025 · study_type: animal	animal	supports	moderate	Oleanolic acid inhibited appetite through the TGR5/cAMP signalling pathway, tying the triterpenoid directly to TGR5 activation in vivo.
? 2025 · study_type: mechanism	mechanism	supports	low	Structure-based review of TGR5 activation by natural compounds, noting TGR5's regulatory role in glucose homeostasis and gut hormone secretion and placing triterpenoids among its natural agonists.
? 2025 · study_type: in-vitro	in-vitro	supports	moderate	Oleanolic acid regulates intestinal cell proliferation and protein synthesis via TGR5, described as bile-acid-mediated regulation of gut health through that receptor.

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Educational only, not medical advice. Grades and scores reflect published evidence weighted by study design and quality; see the methodology.