The kinetics of bile acids was investigated in patients with cholesterol gallstones.
The bile was saturated with cholesterol, but the concentration ratio of each bile acid and the glycine/taurine ratio of bile acids were similar to those of normal subjects.
The bile acids pool size was determined by isotope dilution method with deuterium labeled chenodeoxycholic acid which was administered intraduodenally.
The pool size was decreased (0.47g, approximately one half of normal).
The synthetic rate (190.8mg/day) was approximately one and half times greater and the turnover rate (39.8%) was about 2 times greater than the values obtained in the controls, while the half life of the labeled bile acid (1.67 day) was about one third of that in normal subjects.
The rate of bile acid synthesis was also determined in 9 patients with cholesterol gallstones by measuring the activity of cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase which was considered to be the rate limiting enzyme for bile acid synthesis. The enzyme activity (8.77pmol/mg protein/min.) was reduced.
It was considered that the relatively reduced bile acids synthesis, the lithogenic bile formation and diminished bile acids pool size were the essential features in patients with cholesterol gallstones.
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