title: Plasma electrolyte changes after ingestion of bile extract of the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) in rats.
abstract: Some Chinese people believe that eating the gallbladder of the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) may improve their visual acuity. However, ingestion of grass-carp bile, in severe cases, may kill human beings and experimental animals. The cause of death after eating grass-carp bile was studied in rats. The bile acid fraction was prepared from the n-hexane-insoluble and alcohol-soluble parts of grass-carp and hog bile. The bile extract (6 ml/kg, 15%) was administrated by gastric intubation to conscious female Long-Evans rats. Ingestion of grass-carp bile extract killed all the experimental rats in 2-8 h and was associated with a decrease in blood pressure and an increase in plasma potassium, hydrogen ions, blood urea nitrogen and hematocrit. However, rats that ingested hog bile or saline showed no significant changes in the measured parameters. If the rats were fed cholestyramine-treated grass-carp bile extract, they survived without significant change in the measured parameters. This report demonstrates that a drastic increase in plasma potassium and hydrogen ions probably caused the death of the rats, and also shows that bile acid (alcohol) in grass-carp bile is related to the toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001646:Bile; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002347:Carps; D003530:Cyprinidae; D004032:Diet; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes