Serum bile acids in acute hepatitis.

Serum concentrations of cholic (CCA) and chenodeoxycholic (CCDA) acid were measured by radioimmunoassay in 27 patients with acute hepatitis of various aetiologies. In the icteric phase, serum bile acids were strongly elevated, usually with a predominance of CCA. As the disease resolved, however, CCDA was the predominant bile acid in serum in most patients. Serum CCA and CCDA levels returned to normal values at approximately the same time as aminotransferases. The results indicate that determinations of serum bile acids provide no further information than conventional liver tests during the course of acute hepatitis.