Variations in concentrating function of the gallbladder in the conscious monkey

Hepatic bile is concentrated in the gallbladder by absorption of water and electrolytes. The rate of water absorption can be influenced in vitro and in vivo by gastrointestinal hormones and neurogenic transmitters. Recent studies have demonstrated that besides its absorbing activity, the gallbladder has the ability to secrete fluid into its lumen. In the present experiments, we studied the rate of net water absorption in the gallbladders of pig-tailed monkeys sitting in restraining chairs. Bile from the common bile duct and the gallbladder was led out through cannulas to a stream splitter, samples were obtained, and bile was returned to the duodenum. By measuring outflow from the gallbladder and the concentration of bile acids in hepatic bile and bile that had passed through the gallbladder, net water absorption from the gallbladder bile could be calculated. The results demonstrate that during daytime fasting there was a net absorption corresponding to 30% of the fasting gallbladder volume per hour, and after feeding there was a net secretion of fluid into the gallbladder lumen. Compared with the awake fasting state, net water absorption from the gallbladder decreased at night while the animal was fasting and asleep. Physiologically, secretion of fluid after a meal could help to empty the gallbladder, and changes in net water absorption by the gallbladder could influence the kinetics of the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids.