[Psychoemotional and autonomic states in patients with cholelithiasis]

To investigate the psychoemotional and autonomic states of patients with biliary system diseases and to determine their significance in the development of cholelithiasis.

A total of 396 patients with stage 1 cholelithiasis were examined. The results of hepatobiliary ultrasonography, multifractional duodenal probing, followed by macroscopic, microscopic, and biochemical examinations of bile (the total concentration of bile acids and cholesterol, by subsequently calculating the cholate-cholesterol ratio) were used to verify the diagnosis. The functional state of the hepatobiliary system was evaluated by dynamic echocholecystography and dynamic hepatobiliscintigraphy. To characterize the emotional state, the investigators applied indicators of the motivational sphere and orientation of an individual and his/her mental state, such as reactive anxiety, personal anxiety, the levels of depression and neuroticism, and intra-, extraversion. The autonomic state was determined from autonomic tone, autonomic reactivity, and autonomic support.

Biliary lithogenesis was found to be related to psychoemotional and autonomic states. In cholelithiasis, there was an increase in reactive and personal anxiety and a predominance of diminished parasympathetic and perverted sympathetic autonomic reactivity. The signs of emotional instability and autonomic dystonia were shown to increase with age and the degree of an autonomic response depended on the severity of mental and emotional disorders.

The results of these comprehensive studies can reveal new pathophysiological patterns of lithogenic bile formation and enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of cholelithiasis.