[Effect of polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine and vitamin B complex on the metabolism of selenium homotaurocholic acid in patients with chronic liver disease].

SeHCAT, a synthetic homologue of thaurocolic acid, may be used to examine the dynamics of enterohepatic circulation. A greater retention of SeHCAT may be attributed to a defective hepatic clearance and to a partial redistribution of the biliary acid pool outside the enterohepatic circle. This method has been applied to 20 patients affected with chronic hepatic disorders. The percentage of retention of SeHCAT in normal subjects was 19-20 on average. The hepatopathic patient has an average SeHCAT retention of 54%. After treatment with polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine (EPL) plus vitamin B complex i.v., the percentage of SeHCAT retention was significantly less than 31% (P less than 0.001). It can be hypothesized that the drug determines an improvement of the enterohepatic circle (acting on the hepatic clearance) in patients with chronic hepatic disorders as shown by the reduction of the percentage of SeHCAT retention noticed.