Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was used to determine the critical micelle concentration (cmc) and the thermodynamic parameters associated with the demicellization of sodium oleate (NaO) and mixed micelles composed of the bile salt (BS) sodium cholate (NaC) or sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), respectively, and NaO at a molar ratio of 5:2. The influence of the ionic strength (pure water and 0.1 M NaCl at pH 7.5) as well as that of the temperature (10-70 degreesC) were analyzed. For NaO, two cmc's were detected, indicating a two-step aggregation process, whereas only one cmc was observed for the two BSs. A single aggregation mechanism is also evident for the demicellization of mixed micelles (BS/NaO 5:2). Increasing the ionic strength induces the well-known decrease of the cmc. The cmc shows a minimum at room temperature. The cmc(mix) of the mixed micelles was analyzed using models assuming an ideal or nonideal mixing behavior of both detergents. The thermodynamic parameters describing the enthalpy (DeltaH(demic)), entropy (DeltaS(demic)), and Gibbs energy change (DeltaG(demic)), as well as the change in heat capacity (DeltaC(p,demic)) for demicellization, were obtained from one ITC experiment. From the temperature dependence of DeltaH(demic), the change of the hydrophobic surface area of the detergents from the micellar into the aqueous phase was derived. In all cases, the DeltaC(p,demic) values are positive. In addition, the temperature dependence of the size of the formed aggregates was studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS). DLS indicated two populations of aggregates in the mixed system, small primary micelles (0.5-2 nm), and larger aggregates with a hydrodynamic radius in the range of 50-150 nm.