Abstract
Recently, several bile alcohols have been identified in bile and urine of patients with liver disease. Their appearance may be related to the altered steroid metabolism in the liver and reflect changes in mitochondrial and microsomal functions. In the present study, in addition to the previously reported bile alcohols, i. e, 27-nor-5β-cholestane-3α, 7α, 12α, 24, 25-pentol and 5β-cholestane-3α, 7α, 12α, 25, 26-pentol (5β-bufol), two bile alcohols, 5β-cholestane-3α, 7α, 12α, 26, 27-pentol (5β-cyprinol) and 5β-cholestane-3α, 7α, 12α, 26-tetrol (27-deoxy-5β-cyprinol), were identified in urine from a patient with obstructive jaundice. The presence of the latter two bile alcohols, not hydroxylated at C-25, suggests that in cholestasis disturbance of mitochondrial 26-hydroxylation is incomplete and the 26-hydroxylated compounds are also hindered in their further degradation.
