[Bile and serum biochemical parameters in chronic opisthorchiasis]

Bile biochemical composition and serum hepatic samples were studied in patients with opisthorchiasis and non-parasitic diseases of the biliary tract. Opisthorchiasis was found to cause a much more significant reduction in the concentration of bile acid in the gallbladder. The specific features of the invasive disease manifested themselves in the maximum blood level of cholesterol with its less considerable increase in the cystic bile and with the least concentration of bilirubin in the gallbladder. Analysis in each group of the patients being examined reveals specific correlations between the values of biochemical composition of bile and blood. The findings suggest that biliary tract dysfunction in the absence of a parasitic burden is insufficient to have a noticeable impact on the state of the pancreas and that the composition of cystic bile is predominately affected by impaired biliary excretion in patients with nonparasitic diseases and by the altered concentration function of the gallbladder in those with chronic opisthorchiasis. Thus, comparison of the biochemical composition of bile and serum permits identification of the specific features of the invasive disease and induces to pay attention to the immunopathogenetic mechanisms responsible for hepatic synthetic dysfunction and to the specific features of gallbladder concentration function in opisthorchiasis.