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J P Ellul

Publications and source records attributed to J P Ellul.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the micellar cholesterol in human bile.

The cholesterol of gallstones comes from the vesicular rather than the micellar phase of bile. Progress in this field has been limited because conventional analytical methods disturb the distribution of cholesterol between the two phases. The resonance of the cholesterol C6 proton occurs at a chemical shift of 5.4 ppm, to be shown by 2D NMR to be specific for biliary cholesterol, and arises only from the micellar mode. Thus integration of the C6 proton resonance peak area provides a direct non-invasive determination of the cholesterol distribution in human bile.

Bile

Lichen planus associated with chenodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid for gallstone dissolution.

A patient who developed lichen planus while receiving chenodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid therapy for gallstones is described. Skin biopsy was performed and histological examination suggested a drug etiology. An association between lichen planus and liver disease is recognized, but this patient exhibited no clinical or biochemical evidence of liver disease and the rash disappeared after cessation of the bile acid therapy. Bile acids may cause lichen planus. The mechanism is unknown.

Aged

Combination therapy with oral ursodeoxycholic and chenodeoxycholic acids: pretreatment computed tomography of the gall bladder improves gall stone dissolution efficacy.

In a five year study, 55 patients with radiolucent gall stones were treated with the combination of 7.5 mg chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and 5.0 mg ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)/kg/day--that is, half the monotherapeutic doses. Side effects were few but four patients could not tolerate the prescribed bile acids because of diarrhoea or nausea. Analysis of fasting duodenal bile confirmed that CDCA+UDCA converted supersaturated into unsaturated bile but the saturation indices did not predict the dissolution response. By actuarial analysis, the confirmed (by ultrasound x2) complete gall stone dissolution rates in all 55 patients were mean (SEM) 29 (7)% at 12 and 44 (8)% at 24 months. The advent of routine computed tomography before treatment enabled comparison of dissolution efficacy in those screened by computed tomography (n = 24), whose maximum gall stone attenuation was less than 100 Hounsfield units, with that in those not screened (n = 29). Although stone size and number were comparable, patients screened by computed tomography had significantly better dissolution rates (p less than 0.025) than those not screened in this way. At 12 months, partial or complete gall stone dissolution rates were 93 (7)% in the screened and 55 (11)% in the non-screened patients. At 18 months, complete dissolution rates were 64 (12%) and 20 (9)% respectively. Computed tomography before treatment is cost effective in selecting those patients likely to achieve gall stone dissolution on treatment with UDCA+CDCA.

Adult