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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Urinary bile alcohol profiles in healthy and cholestatic children
M Nakagawa1, M Une, S Takenaka
1Sendai Tokusyukai Hospital, Sendai, Japan.
Background:
Bile alcohols are normal constituents of urine.
Methods:
To better understand bile alcohol profile in childhood, urinary specimens from 41 healthy children and 10 children with cholestasis, and 3 healthy adults, were analyzed by GLC and GC-MS.
Results:
Five bile alcohols, 27-nor-5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,24S,25R-pentol, 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,24S, 25-pentol, 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,24S,26-pentol, 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha, 12alpha,25,26-pentol, and 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,26,27-pentol were identified in all specimens. C(26)-Pentol was the most abundant constituent, constituting 29.5 to 65% of bile alcohols. Among healthy children (n=41), no significant relationship was seen between proportions of the C(26)-pentol and age, but older children (n=15, 6 to 14 years) showed a significantly greater mean percentage of the C(26)-pentol than young children (n=26, 0 to 5 years; 58.1+/-4.23% vs. 46.0+/-9.24%, p<0.001). In children with cholestatic liver diseases, the percentage of C(26)-pentol in urinary bile alcohols was significantly lower than age-matched controls.
Conclusions:
There is an increased composition of C(26)-pentol in older children and relatively decreased composition of C(26)-pentol in children with cholestatic liver diseases.
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