CHOLIC ACID AND CHENODEOXYCHOLIC ACID CONCENTRATIONS IN SERUM DURING INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

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Abstract
Concentrations of 2 primary bile acids (cholic and chenodeoxycholic acids) were determined by radioimmunoassay in the serum of infants and children at ages ranging from 1 h to 15 yr. The same bile acids were measured in umbilical cord serum. Concentrations of the primary bile acids were significantly higher in the serum of 1 h old infants than those in the umbilical cord serum or the peripheral vein serum of adults. The levels of cholic and chenodeoxycholic acid remained high until the age of 6 mo., being about 5-fold higher than those in the sera of adults. Primary bile acid concentrations reached the adult level by the age of 1-2 yr. Developmental changes apparently occur in the metabolism and excretion of bile acids in man. The relatively high concentrations of the primary bile acids in serum during the 1st 6 mo. of life suggest that up to this age, the mature ability of the liver to excrete the bile salts into the bile and/or to clear them from the circulation has not yet been reached.

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