SeHCAT

SeHCAT (23-seleno-25-homotaurocholic acid, selenium homocholic acid taurine, or tauroselcholic acid) is a drug used in a clinical test to diagnose bile acid malabsorption.SeHCAT is a taurine-conjugated bile acid analog which was synthesized for use as a radiopharmaceutical to investigate in vivo the enterohepatic circulation of bile salts. By incorporating the gamma-emitter 75Se into the SeHCAT molecule, the retention in the body or the loss of this compound into the feces could be studied easily using a standard gamma camera, available in most clinical nuclear medicine departments.A capsule containing radiolabelled 75SeHCAT (with 370 kBq of Selenium-75 and less than 0.1 mg SeHCAT) is taken orally with water, to ensure passage of the capsule into the gastrointestinal tract. The physical half life of 75Se is approximately 118 days; activity is adjusted to a standard reference date.The SeHCAT test is used to investigate patients with suspected bile acid malabsorption, who usually experience chronic diarrhea, often passing watery feces 5 to 10 times each day. When ileum has been removed following surgery, or is inflamed in Crohn's disease, the 7-day SeHCAT retention usually is abnormal, and most of these patients will benefit from treatment with bile acid sequestrants. The enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is reduced in these patients with ileal abnormalities and, as the normal bile acid retention exceeds 95%, only a small degree of change is needed. Bile acid malabsorption can also be secondary to cholecystectomy, vagotomy and other disorders affecting intestinal motility or digestion such as radiation enteritis, celiac disease, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.