Serum bile acid profiles after endogenous and exogenous loads of bile acid into the enterohepatic circulation of healthy subjects and patients with chronic liver disease

The three-hour profiles of total serum bile acids (TSBA), after caerulein infusion and oral loading of chenodeoxychic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid, were studied in healthy subjects and patients with various degrees of chronic liver disease (10 chronic persistent hepatitis, 10 chronic active hepatitis and 10 cirrhosis). The differences found in TSBA profiles between the various loads seem to be due to differences in intestinal absorption. The TSBA profile and area under the curve of each test increased significantly in severe liver damage, but did not differ between controls and chronic persistent hepatitis, in which the hepatic extraction of both endogenous and exogenous bile acids seemed negligibly decreased. Between the three tests the chenodeoxycholic acid oral load presented the more marked increase in the TSBA profile, a result of greater intestinal absorption over the three-hour period.