Decreased clearance of Escherichia coli from the bile in rats with obstructive jaundice

Clearance of Escherichia coli from the bile was studied in 4 normal Sprague-Dawley rats and 4 rats with 3 weeks of obstruction of the common bile duct. 125I-radiolabelled heat-killed E. coli were injected into the common bile duct and the radioactivity of the bile monitored for 2 h. The radioactivity declined exponentially during the first 10 min. Bile samples collected from 2 to 15 min after injection showed higher amounts of radioactivity in all rats with biliary obstruction than in the normal rats. However, the clearance rate was higher in normal than in obstructed rats (p less than 0.05). It was, therefore, concluded that the bacteria were cleared off the bile rapidly in normal rats by the function of a liver and/or a biliary tree. The present data, concerning the kinetic study of bacterial clearance from the biliary tract, indicates that the impaired clearance of bacteria in chronic biliary obstruction might be crucial for the development of biliary sepsis.