Abstract
The authors measured serum bile acid concentrations in 16 patients with fulminant hepatitis (FH) and 12 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and studied their correlation with disease status. HPLC was employed to measure 15 serum bile acid fractions. 1) Total serum bile acid (TBA) concentration of 15 fractions measured by HPLC was significantly elevated in PH patients. 2) Among 15 fractions of bile acid, glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GCDC) and glycocholic and (GC) levels were significantly higher in FH than LC, and no intergroup differences were noted among other groups. 3) In FH, the primary bile acid/secondary bile acid ratio was higher than in LC, but the glycine (G) /taurine (T) ratio, the cholic acid (C) / chenodeoxycholic acid (CDC) ratio and the conjugation rate had no significant intergroup differences. These result probably reflect differences about liver damage by PH and LC: The former was characterized by dramatic hepatolysis and caused severe hepatic failure, but liver damage by the latter was not so severe. Study of serum bile acid fractions was therefore useful in characterizing the pathological status of FH and LC.
