A Fully Automatic Method for Analysis of Individual Bile Acids in the Serum Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography for Clinical Use

Abstract We have reported highly sensitive methods for the analysis of individual bile acids in the serum using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with an enzymatic fluorometric system. In this report, a new system equipped with a sample treatment mechanism for chromatographic analysis of serum bile acids is detailed. Most of the protein and other hydrophilic components of the injected serum sample are removed in the pretreatment system, so that only the remaining bile acids are introduced into the chromatographic system and eluted with irrigants containing a coenzyme (NAD) for fluorometric detection. With this method, we are able to simultaneously determine 15 different serum bile acids in an hour without the tedious manual sample processing steps. This system opens up an approach to fully automated analysis of bile acids in the blood.