DIFFERENTIAL ANALYSIS OF BILE ACIDS IN HUMAN GALLBLADDER BILE

Abstract

The acids of human bile consist of a mixture of cholic, desoxycholic, anthropodeoxycholic and lithocholic acids, mainly combined with taurine and amino-acetic acid (glycine), to form the conjugated bile acids. Because there was no simple practical method to determine quantitatively the several bile acids, the reports in this field have generally concerned themselves with analysis of a portion of the bile acids. Thus the method of Schmidt and Dart estimates only the conjugated bile acids, leaving unmeasured the free bile acids, which may be present in large amounts.¹ The various modifications of the Pettenkofer reaction produce more color with cholic acid than with desoxycholic acid, and accordingly, if cholic acid is used as a standard, the tests yield low results for total bile acids. The reaction of Gregory and Pascoe measures cholic acid only, but in the presence of a large proportion of desoxycholic acid it will yield high