Sulfated and nonsulfated bile acid in human serum.

Abstract

AbstractThe presence of sulfated bile acid in serum of healthy persons and patients with hepatobiliary diseases was recognized by using an Amberlite XAD‐2 column for extraction of bile acid and utilizing a Sephadex LH‐20 column for separation of sulfated bile acid (sulfate of either taurine or glycine conjugate), and nonsulfated bile acid (taurine and glycine conjugate. The values of nonsulfate determined in this study were almost similar to the level of total serum bile acid reported by previous workers. A small amount of sulfated bile acid was found in normal serum, and the percentage of sulfated to total bile acid was ca. 10%. In patients with hepatobiliary diseases, both levels of sulfated and nonsulfated bile acid in serum rose, but sulfate did not increase in parallel to the level of nonsulfate. A remarkable increase of serum‐sulfated bile acid could be observed in patients with cholestasis, while a slight elevation was noted in patients with chronic hepatocellar insufficiency. The percentage of sulfated to total bile acid was from 1.8 to 21.2% in patients with hepatobiliary diseases. Sulfated bile acid in serum consisted of only dihydroxycholanoic acid, deoxycholic and chenodeoxycholic acid. As no solvolysis was not carried out in previous works, bile acid sulfate in serum as described in this study was not determined at all.