Biliary Bile Acid Analysis in the Patients with Bile Duct Cancer

Lee, Jin Heon; Park, Yoon Hee; Seo, Jung Hoon; Chung, Jae Bock; Lee, Se Joon; Chung, Joon Pyo; Song, Si Young; Kang, Jin Kyung

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Bile acids including deoxycholic acid (DCA) have been known as carcinogenic on human colonic mucosa. However, limited data on changes of bile acid composition in the patients with bile duct cancer are available. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in composition of biliary bile acids in patients with bile duct cancer. METHODS: The bile was collected from 35 patients with bile duct cancer (25 males, 10 females, mean age of 61.4 years) and 23 patients with bile duct stone for control (11 males, 12 females, mean age of 57.7 years) bile acid analysis was then performal by high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The total bile acids concentration was not different between two groups. The concentrations of deoxycholic, glycodeoxycholic and taurodeoxycholic acid in the bile of cancer patients were higher than those in the bile of control group. However there was no statistical significance. The fractional ratio of taurocholic acid was higher in cancer patients than in control group (p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: There was no statistically significant difference in DCA concentration between two groups. However, the fact that the DCA level was higher in the patients with bile duct cancer than in control group suggests the possibility of relationship between bile duct cancer and the changes in bile acid composition. Further study is needed to obtain more reliable results.