The quantitative and qualitative analysis for biliary lipids in the prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus

1. The quantitative analysis of biliary lipids has been well characterized, however, there is little data related to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of phospholipids and conjugated bile salts for the prairie dog. 2. Gallbladder and hepatic bile were collected and the bile salts in each sample were analyzed by first fractionating them into unconjugated, glycoconjugated, and tauroconjugated bile salts. These fractions were further resolved by using HPLC techniques. 3. The data has shown that cholate exists predominately as the tauroconjugate and is the major bile salt, whereas chenodeoxycholate is rarely conjugated. 4. The qualitative analysis of biliary phospholipids by thin layer chromatography has shown a remarkable similarity to that of humans. Phosphatidylcholine was found to be the major phospholipid followed by phosphatidylethanolamine with trace amounts of lysophosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine.