Fecal excretion of bile acids: a new technique for studying bile acid kinetics in patients with ileal resection

The fecal elimination and enterohepatic circulation of bile acid was studied in 11 patients. 10 patients with varying degrees of ileal disease or resection and 1 patient with pancreatic insufficiency and no ileal disease. A new technique was employed which involved the nearly simultaneous administration of cholic acid-¹⁴C and a nonabsorbable marker. ⁵¹CrCl₃. Each individual stool specimen was collected for 36-96 hr and analyzed separately. Assay of the radioactivity of each isotope allowed the accurate determination of an excretion rate for both cholic acid and ⁵¹Cr. The difference between these rates was used to calculate an absorption coefficient for cholic acid. In addition, bile acid concentration measured by the steroid dehydrogenase technique, and the water content of each stool was determined.