Comparison of serum bile acids with standard liver function tests in the diagnosis of liver disease

Postprandial sera of seventy patients with liver disease (hepatitis 30, cirrhosis 19, liver cancer 21) were analysed for total serum bile acids. The mean values observed in hepatitis (169.0 mumol/L), cirrhosis (112.15) and liver cancer (86.44) were significantly higher (p less than 0.001) than in normal (19.45). The frequency of abnormal bile acids was greater than that of the standard liver function tests except for alkaline phosphatase in liver cancer.