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Uptake of iopanoic acid (IOP) was studied in 3-day primary cultures of rat hepatocytes isolated by the collagenase perfusion method. 125I activity of cells after incubation with 125I-IOP (1.0-100 microM) was used as a measure of uptake. At each IOP concentration uptake was linear for the first 45 s. The initial uptake velocity was directly proportional to IOP concentration and was nonsaturable up to 100 microM. The calculated uptake rate constant was 0.67 nmol . mg prot-1 . min-1 . microM-1. Uptake was only slightly reduced when the incubation was performed at 4 degrees C and was independent of sodium concentration. Albumin in the medium reduced IOP uptake. Uptake, however, was always greater than that predicted from the unbound IOP concentration alone. The data indicate that the hepatocyte uptake of IOP occurs by both a passive process and a saturable process. The saturable uptake component depends on an albumin-IOP-hepatocyte interaction. The influence of albumin on uptake occurs possibly by an undefined specific cell surface phenomenon of albumin that promotes uptake of IOP or by enhancement of the diffusibility of IOP across the unstirred layer.

The biliary clearances of [14C]erythritol (Cery) and [3H]mannitol (Cmann) were measured simultaneously in dogs during cholereses induced by sodium taurocholate and by secretin. Cery increased equally with the increase in bile flow induced by taurocholate, whereas mannitol entry into bile was partially restricted; deltaCery/deltabile flow averaged 0.96; deltaCmann/deltaCery averaged 0.81. Values for erythritol clearance exceeded bile flow by a constant volume over a wide range of bile flows, a result that suggests distal reabsorption of a fixed amount of fluid, independent of canalicular bile production. During secretin-induced choleresis both Cery and Cmann accompanied 30-40% of the increase in bile flow, and the ratio of Cmann/Cery was 1.02. Thus the secretin-responsive region is permeable to both erythritol and mannitol. This affects the extent to which measured erythritol clearance accurately reflects canalicular bile formation; Cery may underestimate or overestimate canalicular bile flow. The electrolyte composition of bile remained relatively constant over a broad range of bile flows although the characteristics of taurocholate- and secretin-induced biles differed from each other. Taurocholate-stimulated bile was virtually isotonic. Secretin-induced bile had a high total concentration of electrolyte (mean concentration 367 meq/liter) rich in chloride and bicarbonate and was hypertonic.

A comparison of the maximal rates of biliary excretion (Tm), of dye in dogs infused with either BSP or its glutathione conjugate (BSP-GSH) was carried out. Tm was much higher when BSP-GSH rather than BSP was infused. This was accounted for by a significantly higher concentration of dye in bile of dogs receiving BSP-GSH. Evidence is presented that BSP and its conjugated metabolites compete for a common transport carrier and that BSP disproportionately depresses the biliary excretion of conjugated dye compounds. This latter observation accounts for the depressed dye Tm found during infusion of BSP. Choleresis invariably accompanied dye excretion. When BSP-GSH was infused, enhanced bile flow could be accounted for by the predicted osmotic activity of dye transported into bile. By contrast, the choleresis measured during infusion of BSP was significantly greater than that predicted. An additional mechanism for choleresis is operative, therefore, when unconjugated BSP is infused. Administration of taurocholate enhanced dye Tm when BSP-GSH was infused. Since increments of canalicular bile flow induced by theophylline and glucagon did not enhance dye excretion into bile, this effect by taurocholate appears to be related to taurocholate excretion per se rather than to the enhanced canalicular bile flow which accompanies its excretion.

The effect of three taurine-conjugated bile acids on bile flow, induced biliary secretion of phospholipids and cholesterol, and the hepatobiliary clearance from plasma of sucrose and erythritol (two uncharged, nonmetabolizable permeability probe molecules) was assessed in the unanesthetized bile fistula dog under steady-state conditions. Synthetically prepared chenodeoxycholyltaurine, cholytaurine, or urological rate for randomized 90-min periods, and four 10-min samples of bile were taken at the end of each period. Induced bile flow (per mumoles of bile acid) was calculated to be about one-third higher with ursodeoxycholyltaurine than with the other bile acids. Induced phospholipid secretion was identical for all bile acids, but cholesterol secretion differed: the two dihydroxy taurine conjugates induced considerably more cholesterol per molecule bile acid or phospholipid than colyltaurine. Further, ursodeoxycholyltaurine induced significantly more cholesterol secretion than chenodeoxycholyltaurine. Erythritol clearances were identical for all bile acids, and sucrose clearance, although slightly higher for chenodeoxycholyltaurine than ursodeoxycholyltaurine, was similar for all three conjugated bile acids. The results indicate that, for these two 3,7-dihydroxy bile acids, the orientation of the 7-hydroxyl group on the steroid nucleus has a marked influence on cholesterol secretion into bile and bile flow but not on the apparent permeability of the hepatobiliary tree.