Control of bile flow in the cholecystectomized dog

¹ Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, and School of Dentistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Rate of flow and composition of bile were measured in three unanesthetized, cholecystectomized dogs. One of these animals and one other dog were also studied after bilateral vagotomy. Bile flow and output of solids were increased by intravenous insulin and feeding. Tolbutamide had a similar choleretic effect. The anticholinergic drug, pipenzolate methylbromide blocked the choleretic effect of insulin. After bilateral vagotomy, the choleretic effect of both feeding and insulin-hypoglycemia was lost. Commercial pancreozymin had a choleretic action which may indicate a role of intestinal hormones in the response to feeding. Intraduodenal injection of hydrochloric acid was followed by an increase in only the volume of bile. Glucagon produced a hydrochloresis and an increase in bilirubin output. The results suggest that normal bile production in the dog after eating may be controlled in part by a mechanism involving the vagus nerves. The data also show that the insulin-hypoglycemia-induced choleresis differs from that of secretin. The composition of hepatic bile obtained from the common duct is consistent with an absorptive function of the ductal epithelium in the dog without a gallbladder.