Effect of glucagon on secretin-stimulated bile flow.

The effect of glucagon on secretin-stimulated bile flow was evaluated in dogs with chronic biliary and gastric fistulas. Evaluation of the effects of secretin and glucagon alone on hepatic bile flow indicated that the calculated maximal response (CMR) values of the two agents were similar. Secretin increased the bicarbonate concentration in hepatic bile whereas glucagon did not, suggesting basic differences in mechanism of action. Administration of glucagon to secretin-stimulated bile flow produced an increase in bile flow while decreasing the bicarbonate concentration in secretin-stimulated bile. Since the maximal response for bile flow to glucagon and secretin was significantly greater than the maximal response to either agent alone, glucagon produced potentiation of secretin-stimulated bile. Glucagon increased the CMR value of secretin-stimulated bile from 513 mul/min for secretin alone to 692 mul/min for secretin and glucagon. This was associated with no significant change in the values of the respective D50S. These data suggest that glucagon produced a noncompetitive augmentation of secretin-stimulated bile flow and suggest that the two agents do not utilize the same receptor to stimulate bile flow.     

Enzyme histochemical studies of rabbit bile ducts with and without bile flow.

The histochemical enzyme pattern in normal, extra-hepatic bile ducts from rabbits was studied. A difference between the duct epithelium and the crypt epithelium was noted mainly in the activity of gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase which only stained positively in the crypts. No difference from the normal enzyme pattern was noted after diversion of the bile flow for up to 30 days.     

Analysis of the components of bile flow in the rhesus monkey.

Bile flow studies were performed in three groups of awake rhesus monkeys. In the first group, the increase in bile flow stimulated by secretin was not accompanied by an increase in erythritol-14C clearance. Resection of the gastric antrum and small intestine in the second group resulted in stable bile flow at fixed bile salt secretion rates. Linear regression lines for bile flow versus bile salt secretion rate and erythritol-14C clearance versus bile salt secretion rate were parallel, and the Y-axis intercept for the latter was consistently higher than for the former. We concluded that erythritol-14C clearance equals canalicular flow, and ductular reabsorption is constant at all bile salt secretion rates in this species. Bile flow was studied during fasting and feeding, over 6 days, in the third group. A model incorporating four bile flow components was developed and tested by multivariate regression analysis. The data fit the model quite well, explaining greater than 90% of the variation in bile flow. A method of measuring the contribution to bile flow of each of the four components is provided.     

Efficiency of various bile salt preparations for stimulation of Clostridium difficile spore germination.

Taurocholate, desoxycholate, and cholate stimulated germination of Clostridium difficile spores in broth medium and enhanced recovery of C. difficile spores on a selective agar medium. Desoxycholate and some crude taurocholate preparations also inhibited multiplication of vegetative cells. At a concentration of 1.2 X 10(-2) M, sodium cholate inhibited multiplication of vegetative cells, but at concentrations of 1.2 X 10(-3) to 2.4 X 10(-3) M, it stimulated germination without inhibiting cell multiplication. Thus, pure sodium taurocholate and sodium cholate may effectively be incorporated in cefoxitin-cycloserine-fructose agar, whereas some crude preparations of sodium taurocholate decrease recovery on this medium.     

Effects of bile duct ligation and captopril on salt appetite and renin-aldosterone axis in rats.

A ligation of the common bile duct (BDL) produces cholestasis and hypotension and increases the daily ingestion of sodium chloride solutions in rats. Low-dose captopril (CAP) treatment also modifies the ingestion of water and sodium in naive rats, and may do so in cholestatic rats. This study examined whether the elevated ingestion of saline by Long-Evans rats after BDL is associated with increased plasma renin activity (PRA), and whether treatment with a low dose of the angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitor CAP further exacerbates fluid intake and PRA after BDL. In these experiments water and 0.3 M saline intake and PRA and plasma aldosterone (PA) were measured in naive and CAP-treated BDL and sham-ligated rats. We found that BDL elevated rats' daily saline intake 2 weeks after the ligation procedure but had no effect on PRA. CAP (0.1 mg/mL) placed in the drinking water of some BDL rats further increased saline intake. Both PA and hematocrits tended to be reduced in BDL rats, whereas PRA was elevated in both BDL and sham-ligated rats receiving CAP in the drinking water or by gavage (0.1 mg/mL in 10 mL/kg). The data suggest that the ingestion of saline by rats can be modified by BDL and CAP administration, but that exaggerated saline intake in BDL rats is not associated with excessive renin secretion.     

Bile salt and non-bile salt components in bile affecting micellar cholesterol uptake by rat intestine in vitro

1. The uptake of micellar cholesterol was measured in sacs of the upper half of everted rat intestine. Sacs of 20 cm length were incubated 1 hr in 25 ml. phosphate buffer containing fatty acid, monoglyceride and (3)H-labelled cholesterol in micellar form with the bile salt, sodium taurocholate, as the dispersing agent.2. Sacs obtained from bile fistula rats (bile duct cannulated 48 hr previously) took up more than twice as much cholesterol as did sacs obtained from untreated control rats.3. In experiments utilizing bile-deficient sacs increasing the sodium taurocholate concentration caused an increase in cholesterol uptake. Conversely, adding a small amount of whole bile caused a decrease in cholesterol uptake.4. The inhibitory effects of the bile were greatly enhanced if the bile was pre-treated with cholestyramine to remove the bile salts.5. It is concluded that bile has a variable effect on intestinal cholesterol absorption depending upon its relative concentration of bile salt and a non-bile salt component having opposite actions.6. It is suggested that the variable effect may be related to the physico-chemical dispersion of cholesterol and that the non-bile salt component may be lecithin.     

Intrarenal blood flow distribution in the desert quail following salt loading.

The total-kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) falls when birds are salt loaded. This fall in GFR is caused by glomerular intermittency. The nephrons that stop filtering are small, surface nephrons without loops of Henle. Larger nephrons with loops of Henle in the deeper regions of the kidney continue to filter during salt loading. Microfil casts were made of the renal microvasculature of the desert quail, Lophortyx gambelii, in an attempt to determine at what points intrarenal blood flow is regulated to cause glomerular intermittency. Casts of the renal vasculature were made in quail that were hydrated and in quail that were salt loaded. The results indicate that the small, surface nephrons stop filtering during salt loading because of a vasoconstriction at the level of the afferent arterioles of these nephrons. At the same time, blood flow is maintained to the large nephrons with loops of Henle. Reducing GFR at the expenses of excreting wastes can be viewed as a mechanism to conserve body water during periods of water deprivation.     

The effect of local changes in potassium and bicarbonate concentration on hypothalamic blood flow in the rabbit.

Blood flow has been measured locally in the hypothalamus of anaesthetized rabbits by measuring the clearance of small volumes (5-20 mul.) of a mock cerebrospinal fluid solution containing 133Xe. The effect of varying the [K+] or [HCO-3] of the 133Xe-containing solution on local hypothalamic blood flow has been investigated. 2. There was an increase in local hypothalamic blood flow if the 133Xe-containing solution was HCO3--free; raising the [HCO--3,] of the solution to 40 mM caused a fall in local blood flow. 3. There was an increase in local hypothalamic blood flow when 133Xe was injectedin a mock cerebrospinal fluid containing 10 or 20 mM-[K+]. There was no significant change in blood flow if a K+-free or a 40 mM [K+] solution was used. 4. The decrease in hypothalamic blood flow caused by injecting a 40 mM-[HCO3] solution could be reversed by the addition of 20 mM [K+] to the solution. There was no further increase in blood flow if 20 mM-[K+] was added to a HCO3--free solution. 5. It is concluded that local blood flow in the hypothalamus changes as a result of variation in local [K+] as well as local [HCO-3]. The changes in blood flow in the brain which accompany neuronal activity could be mediated by variation in local [K+].