BILIARY ELECTROLYTES AND ENZYMES IN PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT GALLSTONES

pH, osmolarity, various electrolytes, nine enzymes, and bile acid were determined in hepatic and gallbladder biles from 108 and 100 patients , respectively, relating to various types of gallstones. The pH, osmol arity, and electrolytes were essentially identical in all groups of pa tients except for slightly higher Ca and Mg in the hepatic bile in pat ients with muddy pigment stones. The gallbladder bile contained much h igher inorganic cations yet remained isosmotic as a result of their se questration into bile acid micelles. Excluding extremely high values, the activities of nine enzymes in the bile showed only minor differenc es among four groups of patients except for a high beta-glucuronidase activity in the hepatic bile in patients with muddy pigment stones. Th e biliary baseline activities of various enzymes and the relation to t heir serum levels were determined by their sources and subcellular loc alization in the hepatocytes. We concluded that biliary electrolytes a nd enzymes were basically similar in patients with and without gallsto nes except for higher levels of Ca, Mg, and beta-glucuronidase in hepa tic bile in patients with muddy pigment stones.