Bile acid assays as an index of cholestasis

Abstract

Four bile acid profiles, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase were measured in rats in which normal bile flow had been disturbed either by administration of α-naphthylisothiocyanate or by surgical ligation of the bile duct. The most sensitive index to the early onset of cholestasis was an increase in total cholate. This increase was measurable before morphological changes could clearly be identified.