FIGURE 1.

Biliary cholesterol crystallization, gallstone score, and gallbladder inflammation in LD fed wild type and Apobec-1^−/− mice. 11 WT and 10 Apobec-1^−/− mice were fed the LD for 2 weeks. Gallbladder bile samples were collected and analyzed under polarizing microscopy. A and B, a few single ChMCs were present in WT gallbladder bile (A), whereas multiple aggregated ChMCs were observed in gallbladder bile from Apobec-1^−/− mice (B). C, gallbladder bile appears turbid in Apobec-1^−/− compared with WT mice. D, gallstone score (see “Materials and Methods”) and gallbladder volumes reveal a higher gallstone score and larger gallbladder volume in Apobec-1^−/− compared with WT mice. E and F, histological examination of gallbladder epithelium following hematoxylin and eosin staining. The black arrows indicate stromal granulocyte infiltration into a thickened gallbladder wall. The black arrowhead indicates submucosal vasodilatation. The white arrowhead indicates mucosal surface indentations noted in Apobec-1^−/− but not WT mice (magnification, ×400). **, p < 0.01.