Abstract
Serum bile acid analysis was used to monitor the bile acid composition of bile in 16 healthy male volunteers before and during the oral administration of different doses of the gallstone-dissolving bile acid, chenodeoxycholic acid. Daily chenodeoxycholic acid ingestion increased the percentage of this bile acid in bile to a new steady-state level after two to three weeks. Doses of 125, 250, 500, and 750 mg/day significantly increased the proportion of chenodeoxycholic acid in bile from 41% to 55, 61, 78, and 79 %, respectively, during the fourth week of ingestion. The results indicate that useful information concerning chenodeoxycholic acid-induced changes in the bile acid composition of bile can be obtained solely by serum bile acid analysis, and bile collection by duodenal intubation can be avoided.