Occurrence of bile alcohols in the bile of a patient with cholestasis.

Considerable amounts (6.0 mumol/ml of bile) of bile alcohols were found in the bile of a patient with cholestasis due to gallstones in a common bile duct. Acid hydrolysis of the bile salts followed by chromatographic separation yielded three bile alcohols, which were identified as 26,27-dinor-5 beta-cholestane-3 alpha,7 alpha,12 alpha,24,25-pentol, 24-methyl-26,-27-dinor-5 beta-cholestane-3 alpha,7 alpha, 24-tetrol, and 3 alpha,7 alpha, 12 alpha-trihydroxy-26,27-dinor-5 beta-cholestan-24-one by comparison with synthetic reference standards.