Cholecystokinin-stimulated and postprandial serum concentrations of bile acids in alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

This investigation was undertaken to examine the alterations in serum bile acid concentration after intravenous administration of cholecystokinin and a standard meal in 13 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. Total 3 alpha-hydroxy bile acids in serum (SBA) were monitored for 2 h after injection of cholecystokinin and for 3 h after the standard meal. The median fasting value of SBA was 39.9 mumol/l (range, 3.2-148 mumol/l). The increase in SBA after cholecystokinin started earlier and lasted shorter than after standard meal stimulation (median, 30 min and 120 min, respectively). The appropriate relative peak levels of SBA were 173% and 212% of the fasting value. The increments were significant (P less than 0.01) within groups but insignificant between groups. Day-to-day variation of postprandial SBA was more pronounced than after cholecystokinin stimulation. The difference, however, was insignificant. An inverse correlation was detected between both fasting and stimulated peak levels of SBA and P-coagulation factors 2, 7, and 10.