Dietary fish oil potentiates bile acid-induced cholesterol secretion into bile in rats

Recently we demonstrated that dietary fish oil (FO) causes changes in intrahepatic cholesterol transport and hypersecretion of cholesterol into bile in rats (J. Clin. Invest. 88: 943-951, 1991). We have now investigated in more detail the relationship between cholesterol and bile acid secretion in rats with chronic bile diversion fed purified diets supplemented (9% wt/wt) with either FO or corn oil (CO) for 2 weeks. Effects of FO on biliary cholesterol secretion (+ 400% as compared to CO after 14 days) were much more pronounced than previously observed in rats with intact enterohepatic circulation (+50%). Biliary bile acid (+30%) and phospholipid (+120%) secretion were increased to a much lesser extent than that of cholesterol resulting in the formation of bile supersaturated with cholesterol. The biliary cholesterol/bile acid molar ratio was 0.069 and 0.032 in FO- and CO-fed rats, respectively, at noon of day 14. This ratio increased to 0.108 in FO-fed rats at midnight, when bile acid output was maximal, but remained unchanged in CO-fed rats during the day-night cycle. Intravenous administration of taurochenodeoxycholic acid (15 mumol/kg) resulted in a 2-fold increase in bile acid output and a simultaneous 1.6-fold stimulation of cholesterol secretion in both groups, implying that administration of the bile acid induced the secretion of 2-3 times as much cholesterol in FO- than in CO-fed rats. Likewise, administration of bilirubin ditaurate (30 mumol/kg), an inhibitor of bile acid-induced biliary lipid secretion, reduced cholesterol output in both groups by about 50% while bile acid output remained unchanged. It is concluded that, in rats, dietary fish oil increases the disposition of cholesterol into bile by potentiating bile acid-dependent cholesterol secretion, presumably by facilitating the recruitment of bile-destined cholesterol.