Postprandial concentrations of free and conjugated bile acids down the length of the normal human small intestine
Open Access
- 1 July 1973
- Vol. 14 (7), 513-518
- https://doi.org/10.1136/gut.14.7.513
Abstract
Small intestinal samples were obtained by intubation from multiple sites along the small intestine in 11 subjects with no known gastrointestinal disease eating a normal diet and at laparotomy in a further three subjects. Free (unconjugated) bile acids were consistently demonstrated in ileal samples, and occasionally in lower jejunal samples, by thin-layer chromatography, supplemented in some cases by gas/liquid chromatography and by infrared spectroscopy. The free bile acid concentration, measured enzymically following thin-layer chromatography, reached a maximum (1 mM) in the lower ileum, where it represented half the total bile acid concentration. Following ampicillin, the concentration of free bile acids decreased markedly, suggesting that they resulted from bacterial deconjugation; at the same time the total bile acid concentration increased, suggesting impaired absorption due to the reduced concentration of the more rapidly absorbed free bile acids. Our results indicate that the presence of free bile acids in lower jejunal and ileal samples is a normal finding, and cannot be taken as evidence of abnormal bacterial overgrowth. They also suggest that bacterial deconjugation at these sites may be a factor contributing to the remarkable efficiency of bile salt reabsorption.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bile Acids: A pH Dependent Antibacterial System in the Gut?BMJ, 1972
- Metabolism of steroid and amino acid moieties of conjugated bile acids in manJCI Insight, 1972
- Metabolism of steroid and amino acid moieties of conjugated bile acids in manJCI Insight, 1972
- Characterization of the kinetics of the passive and active transport mechanisms for bile acid absorption in the small intestine and colon of the ratJCI Insight, 1972
- BILE-SALT DECONJUGATION AND STEATORRHŒA IN PATIENTS WITH THE STAGNANT-LOOP SYNDROMEThe Lancet, 1968
- Degradation of bile salts by human intestinal bacteria.Gut, 1968
- JEJUNAL BACTERIOLOGY AND BILE-SALT METABOLISM IN PATIENTS WITH INTESTINAL MALABSORPTIONThe Lancet, 1966
- Bile acid metabolism. I. Studies on the mechanisms of intestinal transport.JCI Insight, 1966
- Studies on the pathogenesis of steatorrhea in the blind loop syndrome.JCI Insight, 1965
- On the Concentration of Bile Acids in the Human Intestine during Absorption. Bile Acids and Steroids 74.Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 1959