Bile acids facilitate the absorption of lipids, and affect the development of various diseases by regulating intestinal flora structure and modulating immunity and metabolism. It is therefore important to quantitatively detect bile acids. Current analytical methods are still immature due to constituent complexity, structural heterogeneity and bioactive variability of bile acids. Detection of individual bile acids is of significance for pharmacological research, clinical diagnosis and disease prevention. Advances have been made in bile acid analysis from multiple sources including serum, bile, urine and feces, although several limitations still exist for bile acid quantification. Here we review research progress in conventional bile acid assays, including spectrophotometry, thin-layer chromatography, liquid/gas chromatography and liquid/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Moreover, we emphasize the development of bile acid biosensors that may have promising prospects.
胆汁酸不仅促进脂质吸收，还可调节肠道菌群结构，影响多种疾病的发生。胆汁酸代谢过程涉及肝脏、肠道、血液等重要组织。胆汁酸组成复杂、同分异构体多、生物活性相差巨大，这给胆汁酸检测分析技术带来较大挑战，同时也限制了胆汁酸与多种疾病的关系研究，因此，对多种不同胆汁酸进行特异性检测可为生物研究、临床诊断、疾病预防提供有利条件。基于不同检测方法分析多种来源胆汁酸样品已获得较大进展，现有技术包括分光光度法、薄层色谱、色谱法、色谱质谱联用分析，但均存在较大限制。文中介绍了胆汁酸传统检测技术的研究情况，突出生物传感器的研究进展，并对其在胆汁酸检测方面的发展进行了展望。.
Keywords: bile acids; biosensor; disease diagnosis; specific sensing.