Conjugated bile salts in gastric aspirates after gastric resection.

Reflux of bile salts into the gastric remnant is believed to have a causal role in the pathogenesis of alkaline reflux gastritis and perhaps also in gastric stump carcinoma. The aim of the present study was to describe changes occurring in conjugated bile acid composition in gastric aspirates from patients with gastric resection. The results show that the total conjugated bile acid concentration was significantly (p less than 0.01) higher in patients with gastric resection (3236 microM) than in a control group (349 microM). The composition of conjugated bile acids in the gastric remnant has a distribution with relatively more deoxycholic acid present than in human bile. This secondary bile acid is known to produce a severer degree of mucosal damage than primary bile acids.