Effect of cicloxilic acid on bile lipid composition in patients with gallstones: a multicenter trial

24 gallstone patients were treated with cicloxilic acid, an agent endowed with choleretic activity, at the dose of 240 mg/day for 1 month. 24 comparable patients on placebo treatment acted as controls. Bile lipid composition was determined and the saturation index calculated before and after treatment, on samples collected by duodenal siphonage after caerulein stimulation, in both groups. In the cicloxilic group there was little or no change in bile salts and phospholipids, whereas biliary cholesterol concentration was significantly reduced (p less than 0.05) and consequently the lithogenic index lowered (from 1.5 to 1.2, p less than 0.01). Cicloxilic acid can have a place in gallstone disease therapy in association with the litholytic bile acids or in the prevention of gallstone formation in high-risk populations.