A Comparison of the Bromsulphthalein and Galactose Elimination Test in Patients with either Chronic Bowel Inflammation or Alcoholic Liver Disease

Abstract

Nilsson, L. H:son & Hultman, E. A comparison of the bromsulphthalein and galactose elimination test in patients with either chronic bowel inflammation or alcoholic liver disease. Scand. J. Gastroent. 1974, 9, 319-323.

Simultaneously infused bromsulphthalein (BSP) and galactose were used as a test of liver function in two groups of patients. One group consisted of all patients hospitalized over a period of two years for chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The other group comprised patients with clinical signs of liver damage due to chronic alcohol abuse; these patients were treated as inpatients during the same period of time. In patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, both substances showed a decreased elimination from the blood. Patients in the alcohol abuse group, with histologically verified steatosis of the liver but without reactive changes in the portal fields, were characterized by a prolonged galactose elimination time but a normal retention of BSP. A normal galactose elimination capacity was typical for the patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease, whereas the BSP retention was increased in 47 per cent of patients admitted to hospital. This data suggests that the excretory function of the liver is frequently disturbed in chronic inflammatory bowel disease, whereas the parenchymal metabolic function is preserved. This is well in accordance with the modern concept that pericholangitis is the most common type of liver damage in cases of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.

Key-words::

• Bromsulphtalein
• colitis, ulcerative
• enteritis, regional
• fatty liver
• galactose
• hepatic cirrhosis
• liver disease
• liver function test