Free fatty acid concentrations in gallbladder bile collected from Chilean patients with gallstones.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between gallstones and biliary free fatty acids (FFAs) as the first attempt to clarify whether biliary FFAs relate to developing gallbladder cancer (GBC) in Chile, which has the highest mortality rate in the world.


METHODS
Gallbladder bile from 21 male and 129 female patients with gallstones from Santiago was collected, and their FFAs were measured. The results were compared with those observed in a similar previous study performed in Niigata and Kochi Prefectures which showed the highest and lowest mortality rates, respectively, for GBC in Japan.


RESULTS
Palmitoleic and linolenic acids compositions in Santiago patients were significantly lower than those in Niigata and Kochi patients, though these compositions in Niigata patients were significantly lower than those in Kochi patients. The levels of these FFAs compositions decreased in the order of Kochi, Niigata, and Santiago patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Decreased biliary FFAs compositions may relate to developing gallstones and subsequently GBC.
Tsuchiya
Yasuo
Y
Division of Social and Environmental Medicine, Department of Community Preventive Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Niigata 951-8510, Japan. troof@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Serra
Iván
I
Hori
Yasushi
Y
Calvo
Alfonso
A
Villegas
Rodrigo
R
Shibuya
Norio
N
Nakamura
Kazutoshi
K
Yamamoto
Masaharu
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001646:Bile / Q000378:metabolism*; D002677:Chile; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified