Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 5, 2026

Using Multi-fluorinated Bile Acids and In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Measure Bile Acid Transport
Published on: November 27, 2016
Stability of human gallbladder bile: effect of freezing
P Janowitz1, R Mason, W Kratzer
1Academic Teaching Hospital of the University of Magdeburg, Burg, Germany. Janowitz@freenet.de
Abstract:
In the present study, the stability of the most essential biliary parameters of human gallbladder bile at -18 degrees C was examined over several months. In 12 patients with gallstone disease (10 female, two male; 52.1+/-13.3 years of age), bile was obtained through fine needle puncture of the gallbladder under local anesthetic. The concentrations of total lipids, cholesterol, phospholipids and bile acids, and the cholesterol saturation index and crystal appearance time were determined before and after freezing over a mean period of 4.38+/-2.9 months. Gallbladder bile obtained by fine needle puncture has proved to be of excellent quality. The total lipid concentration was unchanged before (8.30+/-4.16 g/dL) and after freezing (9.16+/-4.54 g/dL, P=0.6027). The biliary cholesterol, phospholipids and bile acid concentrations, and cholesterol saturation index showed no statistically significant differences before and after freezing. A significant difference arises in the context of subdivision of the group to the nucleation time. Before freezing, most patients had a nucleation time between five and eight days, which shortened to between one and four days after thawing (P=0.0100). The authors conclude that, with the exception of the nucleation time, human gallbladder bile can be stored at -18 degrees C for four months with stability of major lipid components.
Related Concept Videos
Gallbladder
The gallbladder's anatomy consists of three regions: the fundus, body, and neck. Extending from the neck, the cystic duct joins the common...
Bile
Bile is released when dietary fats enter...
Cholecystitis
Hepatic Drug Excretion: Influencing Factors
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...

