Summary Tuberculosis has staged a global comeback and forms a dangerous combination with AIDS. The abdomen is one of the common sites of extrapulmonary involvement. Patients with abdominal tuberculosis have a wide range and spectrum of symptoms and signs; the disease is therefore a great mimic. Diagnosis, mainly radiological and supported by endoscopy, is difficult to make and laparotomy is required in a large number of patient. Management involves judicious combination of antitubercular therapy and surgery which may be required to treat complications such as intestinal obstruction and perforation. The disease, though potentially curable, carries a significant morbidity and mortality.

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A simple method for quantification of conjugated bile acids in human bile using 1 H NMR spectroscopy is presented. Bile acids in human bile are essentially conjugated with either glycine or taurine. The amide NH resonances from the conjugated bile acids are invariably devoid of interfering signals in 1 H NMR spectra. Under physiologic conditions of human bile (pH ϳ7.0 to 7.7), amide signal intensities are attenuated due to the chemical exchange and hence quantitative estimation is precluded. In the present study, the quantity of total glycine and taurine conjugated bile acids could be obtained accurately by suppressing the amide exchange by reducing the pH slightly lower than physiologic value (6.0 ؎ 0.5). Further, the quantity of glycine conjugated bile acids can be calculated accurately by subtracting the quantity of taurine conjugated bile acids from the total conjugated bile acids as determined from the present method.

Tuberculosis (TB) can involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, the peritoneum and the pancreatobiliary system. It can have a varied presentation, frequently mimicking other common and rare diseases 1. The clinician must look for tuberculosis, and confirm or exclude this treatable malady in any patient who presents with gastrointestinal disease.