THE EFFECT OF COPPER AND HELIOTROPE ON THE COMPOSITION OF BILE IN SHEEP

The effects of interrupting the enterohepatic circulation (EHC) of bil e salts for seven hours and of feeding copper and heliotrope alone and combined for 13 weeks, on bile flow and excretion of copper, zinc, ir on and alpha-mannosidase were studied in sheep. Interruption of EHC re duced bile flow rate and increased the concentration of copper, zinc, iron and bile acids while alpha-mannosidase's activity remained stable . Changes in concentration were related to changes in bile volume for copper and zinc only. Total output per hour was not changed. Biliary c oncentration of copper correlated with alpha-mannosidase's activity in control sheep and those given copper or heliotrope, supporting the hy pothesis that lysosomes are involved in biliary secretion of copper in sheep. Increasing the intake of copper increased the rate of excretio n of copper in bile. Copper output was lower when heliotrope was fed a lone.