The formation of bile acids in patients with portal liver cirrhosis.

Bile acid kinetics were characterized in 8 patients with portal liver cirrhosis with the aid of 24-14C-cholic acid and randomly 3H-labelled chenodeozycholic acid. Although not significant on a statistical basis, pool size, synthesis, and fractional turnover of cholic acid in the cirrhotic patients tended to be smaller than in normolipidaemic controls without evidence of liver disease. The most significant findings in the present patients were the subnormal cholic acid: chenodeoxycholic acid ratio of both bile acid pool size and synthesis and the low concentrations of deozycholic acid in duodenal bile specimens. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.