Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Gut logoLink to Gut
. 1973 Nov;14(11):885–890. doi: 10.1136/gut.14.11.885

Bile salt metabolism in patients with gallstones in functioning gallbladders

E W Pomare, K W Heaton
PMCID: PMC1412843  PMID: 4761609

Abstract

Isotopic bile salt studies were carried out in eight middle-aged women with radiolucent galstones in functioning gallbladders and in 10 matched controls. In the gallstone patients the size of the bile salt pool was reduced by 37% to 1·79 g, but there was considerable overlap with the normal subjects. The cholate and chenodeoxycholate pools were reduced, but the deoxycholate pool was normal in size. There were changes in bile salt metabolism which resembled those found after cholecystectomy but were less marked. This suggests that in gallstone disease the storage capacity of the gallbladder is impaired. This may contribute to the small bile salt pool, but it is unlikely to be the sole or even the major cause.

Full text

PDF
885

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bell C. C., Jr, McCormick W. C., 3rd, Gregory D. H., Law D. H., Vlahcevic Z. R., Swell L. Relationship of bile acid pool size to the formation of lithogenous bile in male Indians of the Southwest. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1972 Mar;134(3):473–478. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bell C. C., Jr, Vlahcevic Z. R., Swell L. Alterations in the lipids of human hepatic bile after the oral administration of bile salts. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1971 Jan;132(1):36–42. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bouchier I. A. Gallstone formation. Lancet. 1971 Apr 10;1(7702):711–715. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)91985-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Grundy S. M., Metzger A. L., Adler R. D. Mechanisms of lithogenic bile formation in American Indian women with cholesterol gallstones. J Clin Invest. 1972 Dec;51(12):3026–3043. doi: 10.1172/JCI107130. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Mackay C., Crook J. N., Smith D. C., McAllister R. A. The composition of hepatic and gallbladder bile in patients with gallstones. Gut. 1972 Oct;13(10):759–762. doi: 10.1136/gut.13.10.759. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Pomare E. W., Heaton K. W. The effect of cholecystectomy on bile salt metabolism. Gut. 1973 Oct;14(10):753–762. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Redinger R. N., Small D. M. Bile composition, bile salt metabolism and gallstones. Arch Intern Med. 1972 Oct;130(4):618–630. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Shaffer E. A., Braasch J. W., Small D. M. Bile composition at and after surgery in normal persons and patients with gallstones. Influence of cholecystectomy. N Engl J Med. 1972 Dec 28;287(26):1317–1322. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197212282872603. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Simmons F., Ross A. P., Bouchier I. A. Alterations in hepatic bile composition after cholecystectomy. Gastroenterology. 1972 Sep;63(3):466–471. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Small D. M. The formation of gallstones. Adv Intern Med. 1970;16:243–264. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Smallwood R. A., Jablonski P., Watts J. M. Intermittent secretion of abnormal bile in patients with cholesterol gall stones. Br Med J. 1972 Nov 4;4(5835):263–266. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5835.263. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Vlahcevic Z. R., Bell C. C., Jr, Buhac I., Farrar J. T., Swell L. Diminished bile acid pool size in patients with gallstones. Gastroenterology. 1970 Aug;59(2):165–173. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Vlahcevic Z. R., Bell C. C., Jr, Gregory D. H., Buker G., Juttijudata P., Swell L. Relationship of bile acid pool size to the formation of lithogenic bile in female Indians of the southwest. Gastroenterology. 1972 Jan;62(1):73–83. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Gut are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES