Sterol and bile acid metabolism after short-term prednisolone treatment in patients with chronic active hepatitis.

Serum levels of squalene, cholesterol and bile acid were measured before and after short-term prednisolone administration in patients with chronic active hepatitis. Comparison with normal controls indicated that serum bile acid levels were increased significantly (p less than 0.01) in patients with chronic active hepatitis, but serum levels of squalene and cholesterol did not differ significantly between the two groups. After short-term prednisolone treatment, serum levels of squalene and cholesterol were increased significantly (p less than 0.01) as compared with the pretreatment level. On the other hand, while serum fasting bile acid levels were found to be increased significantly (p less than 0.01), serum clearance after oral administration of ursodeoxycholic acid improved significantly (p less than 0.05) after treatment. These results indicated that short-term prednisolone treatment increases sterol metabolism in the liver in patients with chronic active hepatitis, resulting from an increase in hepatic clearance of bile acids.