Effect of cholecystokinin-pancreozymin on bile salt secretion into the duodenal juice in patients with liver cirrhosis

Summary Bile salt secretion into duodenal juice was investigated in eight normal subjects and in 12 patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Duodenal juice was quantitatively collected during a fast and following intravenous injecton of secretin and of cholecystokinin-pancreozymin (CCK).Fasting bile salt output was higher in the cirrhotics than in the controls. Following secretin administration the volume of juice increased more marked by in patients with cirrhosis of the liver than in the normal group. After injection of CCK the bile salt output increased 2–35 fold in the latter, while there was no significant alteration in the cirrhotics. It is suggested that this lack of stimulation of bile salt output after CCK is caused by impaired gall bladder function in patients with chronic liver disease.These results were presented at the International Bile-Salt Meeting, Freiburg i. Br., October 1970.