[Intracellular bile acid activities in colon cancer and normal colon mucosa]

Bile acids are thought to be involved in the etiology and development of colo-rectal cancers. In this study, the intracellular bile acid activities both in colo-rectal cancers and normal colo-rectal mucosa in 12 patients were measured with a new bile acid ion selective microelectrodes. The results demonstrated that bile acid activities of colo-rectal mucosa cells were 5.0 +/- 3.7 x 10(-5) mol/L and those in colo-rectal cancer cells were 17.6 +/- 9.6 x 10(-5) mol/L, which is three times as high. This demonstrates that bile acids are closely related to the development of colo-rectal cancers. The intracellular bile acid activities remain stationary with age and sex.