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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Free fatty acid concentrations in gallbladder bile collected from Chilean patients with gallstones
Yasuo Tsuchiya1, Iván Serra, Yasushi Hori
1Division of Social and Environmental Medicine, Department of Community Preventive Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Niigata 951-8510, Japan. troof@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Objectives:
To evaluate the association between gallstones and biliary free fatty acids (FFAs) as the first attempt to clarify whether biliary FFAs relate to developing gallbladder cancer (GBC) in Chile, which has the highest mortality rate in the world.
Design And Methods:
Gallbladder bile from 21 male and 129 female patients with gallstones from Santiago was collected, and their FFAs were measured. The results were compared with those observed in a similar previous study performed in Niigata and Kochi Prefectures which showed the highest and lowest mortality rates, respectively, for GBC in Japan.
Results:
Palmitoleic and linolenic acids compositions in Santiago patients were significantly lower than those in Niigata and Kochi patients, though these compositions in Niigata patients were significantly lower than those in Kochi patients. The levels of these FFAs compositions decreased in the order of Kochi, Niigata, and Santiago patients.
Conclusions:
Decreased biliary FFAs compositions may relate to developing gallstones and subsequently GBC.
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