Excretion of bile acids in feces in pathology of the liver and intestines

Intestinal excretion of free bile acids (BA), i.e. of cholic, chenodeoxycholic, deoxycholic, lithocholic, and of conjugated BA, i.e. of glycocholic, glycodeoxycholic together with glycochenodeoxycholic, taurocholic, taurodeoxycholic together with taurochenodeoxycholic acids, was examined in patients with viral hepatitides (VH), chronic hepatitis (CH), biliary cirrhosis of the liver (BCL), and acute dysentery (AD), as were the effects of therapy on these acid levels. The findings evidence that fecal levels of free BA are significantly reduced during the acute period of VH, CH, AD, and BCL, whereas the levels of conjugated acids are elevated in all the examinees except the BCL patients, in whom these acids are unchanged. Study of BA excretion in VH patients treated with prednisolone has demonstrated a normalizing effect of this therapy on the spectrum of excreted free BA. Furazolidone and erythromycin therapy resulted in disordered transformation of 'primary' BA into 'secondary' ones and to deconjugation of BA, this being possibly related to these drugs effects on intestinal microflora.