Which is the correct method to use when performing a serum bile acids assay?

Which is the correct method to use when performing a serum bile acids assay?

• A. Draw a blood sample on a fasting animal
• B. Draw a blood sample immediately after it eats a meal
• C. Draw a blood sample on a fasting animal and another sample 2 hours later
• D. Draw a blood sample on a fasting animal, feed the animal, and draw another sample 2 hours later

Answer: (D)

Serum bile acids testing relies on how bile acids respond to a meal. After a fasting baseline, you give a fatty meal to stimulate bile acid release and enterohepatic circulation. In a healthy animal, postprandial bile acids rise briefly and then fall as the liver clears them. If the liver is diseased or there is a portosystemic shunt, the post-meal rise is exaggerated or clearance is impaired, so the second sample taken about 2 hours after feeding shows the abnormal response. Taking both a fasting sample and a postprandial sample provides the needed comparison to reveal dysfunction, which is why the method involving fasting, feeding, and a second sample 2 hours later is correct.

Serum bile acids testing relies on how bile acids respond to a meal. After a fasting baseline, you give a fatty meal to stimulate bile acid release and enterohepatic circulation. In a healthy animal, postprandial bile acids rise briefly and then fall as the liver clears them. If the liver is diseased or there is a portosystemic shunt, the post-meal rise is exaggerated or clearance is impaired, so the second sample taken about 2 hours after feeding shows the abnormal response. Taking both a fasting sample and a postprandial sample provides the needed comparison to reveal dysfunction, which is why the method involving fasting, feeding, and a second sample 2 hours later is correct.