title: Bilirubin excretion following feeding or the infusion of glucose in ponies.
abstract: Bile flow, during feeding and fasting, was studied in three ponies in which catheters, maintained in the bile duct over 1-2 months, drained all bile continuously. During experiments bile was returned to the small intestine, via a second catheter, by means of a small pump which also measured bile flow rates. The mean +/- S.E. of the mean rate of bile flow in fed ponies with an intact enterohepatic circulation of bile salts was 1.33 +/- 0.10 ml/kg . h, n = 13; mean +/- S.E. of the mean concentration of bilirubin in bile was 10.82 +/- 0.91 mg/dl, n = 13. The effect on bile flow and bilirubin excretion in bile of a standard feed lasting 2 h was compared with that of an intraduodenal or intravascular 2 h infusion of glucose (50 g/h) before and after a short period of fasting (approximately 2 d). Prior to the fast, bile flow and bilirubin excretion in bile rose by 38.5 and 39.0% respectively following a feed. Glucose infused intravascularly or intraduodenally did not alter bilirubin excretion. Following a two day fast, bilirubin excretion in bile rose 72.7% to 136.5% following feeding and 65.2% to 120.3% when glucose was infused either intravascularly or intraduodenally. A correlation between plasma glucose and bilirubin excretion in bile was observed when the pony was fed or glucose infused intraduodenally. When glucose was infused intravascularly a correlation was only observed in a single experiment in which glucose was infused over 10 h at the lower rate of 24 g/h. It appears that an infusion of glucose can mimic the effects of a feed on bilirubin excretion in bile following a short fast, but not preceding it.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001646:Bile / Q000502:physiology; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000172:deficiency; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000378:metabolism*; D004435:Eating; D005215:Fasting; D005947:Glucose / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006736:Horses / Q000378:metabolism*; D007263:Infusions, Parenteral; D008102:Liver Circulation; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D005947:Glucose; D001663:Bilirubin