Postprandial serum bile acids in healthy man. Evidence for differences in absorptive pattern between individual bile acids.

The serum concentrations of cholic acid (C), chenodeoxycholic acid (CD), and deoxycholic acid (D) before and after a standardised meal were determined in five healthy female subjects using a highly specific and accurate gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric technique. The C level rose significantly 60 minutes after the meal, reached a peak after 90 minutes, and had returned to the original level after 150 minutes. In contrast, the serum concentrations of CD and D displayed a significant rise by 30 minutes, reached a peak after 90 minutes, but had not returned to fasting levels after 150 minutes. The serum bile acid responses after a meal suggest that there is considerable absorption of dihydroxy bile acids in the proximal small intestine in man.