Mirex inhibits bile acid secretory function in vivo and in the isolated perfused rat liver

The insecticides mirex and chlordecone suppress the biliary excretion of a wide variety of non-bile acid organic anions in vivo in the rat, and mirex inhibits the uptake of taurocholate (TC), a common bile acid, in isolated rat hepatocytes. We have therefore investigated the effects of mirex and chlordecone on bile acid secretory function (bile flow, bile acid concentration, bile acid secretory rate) in vivo and in the single-pass isolated perfused liver. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally dosed with corn oil, mirex (50 mg/kg), or chlordecone (18.75 mg/kg; in vivo studies only) for 3 consecutive days and experiments performed on Day 6. Mirex significantly increased liver weight from 12.2 +/- 0.8 to 20.8 +/- 1.3 g with no change in body weight whereas chlordecone had no significant effect on liver weight (11.9 +/- 0.7 g) or body weight. Mirex significantly decreased while chlordecone increased bile flow per gram liver in vivo; both compounds, however, increased bile flow when expressed per kilogram of body weight. Mirex and chlordecone significantly decreased the bile acid concentration in bile and the bile acid secretory rate (nmol/min/g liver and mumol/min/kg body weight). Studies in the isolated perfused liver were designed to determine the effect of mirex on the ability of the liver to extract increasing concentrations of [3H]TC from the perfusate and excrete it in the bile. Mirex treatment significantly decreased the TC extraction ratio by 40-89% and the hepatic intrinsic clearance by 85-95%. Mirex also significantly decreased the TC-induced choleresis, the concentration of TC in the bile, and the TC secretory rate. The data indicate that mirex treatment markedly inhibits the ability of the liver to extract TC from the blood/perfusate and concentrate it in the bile.