Bile acid transport by serum lipoproteins in patients with extrahepatic cholestasis.

Individual bile acid conjugates were determined by gas-liquid chromatography in very low density (VLDL), low density (LDL) and high density (HDL) lipoprotein fractions obtained by sequential ultracentrifugation of serum from cholestatic patients. In the lipoproteins were found 16-48% of the serum bile acids. In LDL, the amount found was twice that in VLDL and HDL together. More cholic than chenodeoxycholic acid was detected in the lipoproteins. The occurrence of bile acids in lipoproteins might be of importance for the transport of bile acids from blood to peripheral tissues during cholestasis.