ELISA determination of serum hyocholic acid concentrations in humans and their possible clinical significance.

Hyocholic acid (HCA), a bile acid isolated from pigs, has a different structure from the predominant bile acids from humans.We prepared an antiserum to HCA in rabbits and developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which we used to measure serum HCA in healthy subjects and patients with a variety of gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal diseases.Patients with hepatic cirrhosis had a mean HCA concentration that was 120-fold greater than that in healthy subjects. Markedly elevated HCA levels were also present in patients with primary hepatoma or pancreatic cancer but not in patients with cancer of the breast, bile duct, duodenum, or stomach.If these results are confirmed by further study, HCA measurement may prove clinically useful.