Plasma 14C-cholic acid clearance in healthy dogs and dogs with cholestasis or a congenital portosystemic shunt.

The clearance profiles of intravenously injected tracer doses of radioactively labelled cholic acid were investigated in healthy dogs, dogs with a congenital portosystemic shunt and dogs with cholestasis. The rate constants and residual plasma activity were significantly different in the healthy and diseased dogs, but it was not possible to differentiate between the dogs with portosystemic shunting and cholestasis because the results were determined not only by factors involved in plasma bile acid clearance but also by the enterohepatic circulation.