Increased serum deoxycholic acid levels in men with colorectal adenomas

Abstract

Background: Epidemiological and animal studies have suggested that the secondary bile acid deoxycholic acid is cocarcinogenic in colorectal cancer, but this hypothesis was not confirmed by case-control studies investigating fecal bile acids.

Methods: Individual serum bile acid concentrations were investigated in 25 men and 25 women with colorectal adenomas and in an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls by gas-liquid chromatography.

Results: Deoxycholic acid levels were significantly higher in the sera of men with colorectal adenomas (1.70 +/- 0.59 vs. 1.16 +/- 0.39 mumol/L, P < 0.0005) and in a combined analysis of both sexes (1.47 +/- 0.78 vs. 1.08 +/- 0.39 mumol/L, P < 0.0025). Six- and 12-month follow-up measurements of deoxycholic acid concentrations in a subgroup of 22 men and 17 women showed higher serum levels in men with adenomas, indicating that measurement of deoxycholic acid concentration may be a reliable parameter to investigate its pathogenetic role in colonic neoplasia.

Conclusions: The data of this study support the hypothesis that deoxycholic acid may play a role in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer.