Organic anion transport study in mutant rats with autosomal recessive conjugated hyperbilirubinemia

The EHBR is a mutant rat strain with congenital conjugated hyperbilirubinemia bred from a Sprague-Dawley rat. Transport of conjugated bilirubin, indocyanine green, and tetrabromosulfophtalein from liver to bile is severely impaired in these rats. Serum bilirubin amounts to 6.0 +/- 0.05 mg/dl (n = 4) in adult rats, with 97% conjugates. The bile flow is reduced to about 65% of the control group, whereas total bile acid in 10-min bile samples is similar. Liver histology of 10 week-old rats revealed neither intracellular pigmentation nor architectural abnormalities.