[The importance of the determination of primary bile acids in diseases of the digestive tract].

The authors assessed the concentration of primary bile acids in patients with liver diseases, diseases of the gallbladder and biliary pathways, with affections of the pancreas and in a control group. Primary bile acids and their conjugated derivatives were assessed by radioimmunoanalysis from the patients' serum, using radiodiagnostic sets of Farmos Co. Finland. The range of the assessed concentrations was 0.15-15 mumol/l. The total number of examined subjects was 56, blood specimens for estimation of bile acids were collected in the morning after 12 hours fasting. From the investigation ensues that primary bile acids were elevated in diseases of the hepatobiliary tract; in diseases of the gallbladder and biliary pathways an increased ratio of glycocholic to glycochenodeoxycholic acid was found. Elevated concentrations of the two investigated primary bile acids were also found in subjects with tumorous diseases. Consistent with the result of other authors, it is obvious that estimation of bile acids is a sensitive liver function test.