Recent findings on the epidemiological and experimental aspects of the measurement of serum bile acids in occupational exposure to xenobiotics
Franco, G.; Fonte, R.; Lorena, M.
Giornale Italiano di Medicina del Lavoro 11(6): 293-301
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0391-9889 PMID: 2562752 Document Number: 334369
The functional activity of the liver and the variety of its responses to injury makes the choice of appropriate tests a difficult task. However, because of the highly efficient uptake of bile acids by the normal hepatocyte, the determination of serum bile acids (SBA) concentration has been proposed as a test to detect early changes of liver function not associated to cytotoxicity. Several studies of biomonitoring subjects occupationally exposed to hepatotoxic substances have been carried out by evaluating total SBA or primary SBA, as indicators of early liver dysfunction. Even though these studies are not completely comparable because of the different protocols adopted, most of them reveal a significant increase of SBA concentrations among the exposed subjects in respect of unexposed controls. Furthermore, higher prevalences of subjects exposed to organic solvents mixture with abnormal SBA concentrations in respect of controls have been observed. Increased serum bile acids concentrations among the subjects exposed to a variety of xenobiotics have been explained as a change in hepatocyte function, particularly in one of the steps involved in bile acids transport. However, the lack of any relationship between the indices of doses and SBA concentrations remains an important point to clarify. This fact could be interpreted as a consequence of the delayed biological effect responsible for increased serum bile acids during the exposure. As regards the nature of the mechanisms involved in the increase of SBA concentrations, recent observations pointed out that some chlorinated aliphatics were able to inhibit cell membrane ATPases.