Postprandial serum bile acids in healthy man: evidence for differences in absorptive pattern between individual bile acids

Abstract

The serum concentrations of cholic acid (C), chenodeoxycholic acid (CD), and deoxycholic acid (D) before and after a standardised meal were determined in 5 healthy female subjects using a highly specific and accurate gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric technique. The C level rose significantly 60 min after the meal, reached a peak after 90 min, and had returned to the original level after 150 min. In contrast, the serum concentrations of CD and D displayed a significant rise by 30 min, reached a peak after 90 min, but had not returned to fasting levels after 150 min. The serum bile acid responses after a meal suggest that there is considerable absorption of dihydroxy bile acids in the proximal small intestine in man.