Enzymic analysis of bile acids.

1. The use of enzymes and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) in quantifying individual bile acids from bile or serum is reviewed. 2. Both 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (commercially available P. testosteroni enzyme) and 7alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (E. coli) can be used for spectrophotometric or fluorometric measurement of individual bile acids in TLC eluates and to estimate pool size and half-life of serially labelled samples.