Patent Document ID: 8778299
Application ID: 12557916
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for assessment of hepatic function in a subject, the method comprising: (a) receiving a plurality of blood or serum samples collected from a subject having, or suspected of having or developing, a hepatic disorder, following oral administration of a stable isotope labeled cholic acid to the subject, wherein no additional cholic acid compound is intravenously co-administered, and wherein the samples have been collected from the subject over intervals of two to seven time points spanning a time period of from 5 to at least 60, but no more than 180 minutes after administration; (b) measuring concentration of the labeled cholic acid in each sample; (c) generating an individualized oral clearance curve from the concentration of the labeled cholic acid in each sample comprising using a computer algorithm curve fitting to a model oral stable isotope labeled cholic acid clearance curve; (d) computing the area under the individualized oral clearance curve (AUC) and dividing the dose (in mg) by AUC of the orally administered stable isotope labeled cholic acid to obtain the oral cholic acid clearance in the subject; and (e) comparing the oral cholic acid clearance in the subject to an oral stable isotope labeled cholic acid clearance cutoff value as an indicator of the relative hepatic function in the subject.