Inhibitory action of cyclobutyrol on the secretion of biliary cholesterol and phospholipids

Dose-dependent conjugation of sulfobromophthalein and hepatic transit time in bile fistula rats: role of the microtubule-dependent vesicle pathway

Sulfobromophthalein (BSP) is selectively taken up by the liver and secreted into the bile as unconjugated and conjugated forms. Our previous study demonstrated that unconjugated BSP, but not conjugated BSP, caused the dissociation of biliary lipid secretion from that of bile acids, suggesting that the hepatic BSP conjugation rate partly regulated biliary lipid secretion. To evaluate the mechanisms through which biliary lipid secretion is regulated by exogenous organic anions, we intravenously administered BSP to male Sprague-Dawley rats at various doses either continuously or as a bolus. Then the relationship of the dose of BSP to its conjugation rate, hepatic transit time, and biliary lipid secretion was determined. BSP decreased biliary secretion of cholesterol and phospholipids in a dose-dependent manner without affecting bile acid secretion. In contrast, the proportion of conjugated BSP in bile was associated with the dose. Although the serum clearance of BSP after bolus infusion was constant regardless of the dose administered (50 or 200 nmol/100 g), BSP secretion was delayed with increasing doses: unconjugated BSP was secreted predominantly in the early phase (0-15 min after bolus injection), and conjugated BSP was the predominant form in the late phase (15-30 min). Pretreatment with colchicine reduced the conjugation rate and hepatic transit time of BSP, suggesting that the microtubule-dependent vesicle pathway plays a role in biliary excretion and conjugation of BSP. We conclude that biliary lipid secretion is influenced by organic anions with an affinity for bile acids such as BSP and that this effect is dependent upon the hepatic metabolic rate, i.e., conjugation rate. The hepatic transit time also plays a key role in this process by influencing metabolism.

Extracellular and intracellular regulation of biliary lecithin hydrophobicity

Bromosulfophthalein and papaverine have been demonstrated to inhibit biliary lipid secretion without affecting secretion of bile salts in normal rats, so-called uncoupling. Bromosulfophthalein inhibits the capacity of intracanalicular bile salt micelles to induce biliary lipid secretion, and papaverine inhibits vesicular transport within the hepatocyte. We compared the effects of bromosulfophthalein and papaverine on biliary lipid secretion in normal Sprague-Dawley rats and Eizai hyperbilirubinuria rats. The fatty acyl chain saturation in biliary lecithin increased during bromosulfophthalein infusion and decreased during papaverine infusion in Sprague-Dawley rats. Bromosulfophthalein had no effect on biliary lipid secretion in Eizai rats, while papaverine induced uncoupling. The degree of fatty acyl chain saturation in biliary lecithin was unchanged during bromosulfophthalein infusion, but decreased with papaverine in Eizai rats. We deduce that selection of biliary lecithin species occurs at various points in the lipid transport pathway at intracellular and intracanalicular sites.

Effect of cholestasis induced by organic anion on the lipid composition of hepatic membrane subfractions and bile in rats

Several organic anions inhibit the secretion of cholesterol and phospholipid into bile without affecting total bile acid secretion (uncoupling). The uncoupling induced by sulphobromophthalein (BSP) alters the fatty acid composition of biliary lecithin. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the lipid composition of bile and of liver subcellular membrane fractions during BSP-induced uncoupling. After depletion of the bile salt pool, rats fitted with a bile duct cannulus were infused with sodium taurocholate given either alone or with BSP. Bile was collected and liver microsomes and canalicular membranes were isolated for analysis of lipid composition. In bile, uncoupling increased the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio (C/P ratio) and the saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratio (S/U ratio) in phosphatidylcholine. The C/P ratio was increased in the canalicular membrane, but the membrane phosphatidylcholine S/U ratio was decreased during uncoupling. In microsomes, the S/U ratio of membrane phosphatidylcholine was slightly increased, but the C/P ratio was unaffected during uncoupling. These results support the hypothesis that an increased secretion of hydrophobic phosphatidylcholine species from the canalicular membrane into bile reduces the proportion of hydrophobic phosphatidylcholine species in the canalicular membrane during uncoupling. The decreased contribution of hydrophobic phosphatidylcholine species may ameliorate the decrease in membrane fluidity resulting from the accumulation of cholesterol in the canalicular membrane and stimulate the synthesis of hydrophobic phosphatidylcholine species in the microsomes.

Interactions between organic anions, micelles and vesicles in model bile systems

Biliary lipid secretion probably involves both 'micellization' and 'vesiculization' of bile-canalicular membrane lipids. Several hydrophilic organic anions inhibit the secretion of lipids into the bile without altering bile salt secretion [Verkade, Vonk and Kuipers (1995) Hepatology 21, 1174-1189]. Hydrophobic organic anions do not interfere with biliary lipid secretion. We investigated whether the organic-anion-induced inhibition of biliary lipid secretion in vivo could be attributed to inhibition of micellization, by the application of in vitro models of micellization. Carboxyfluorescein was entrapped in a self-quenching concentration in small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) composed of cholesterol/egg phosphatidylcholine (molar ratios 0, 0.2 and 0.5). Certain organic anions clearly affected the bile-salt-induced release of fluorescence from these SUV, reflecting interference with micellization. However, the effects of hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic anions did not correspond with their effects on biliary lipid secretion in vivo, irrespective of the bile salt species used (taurocholate, taurodeoxycholate or tauroursodeoxycholate) and of the lipid composition of the SUV. Ultracentrifugation and dynamic light-scattering studies indicated that organic anions do interact with bile salt/ phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol mixed micelles, but that they do not inhibit micellization, for example by competing with phosphatidylcholine and/or cholesterol for incorporation into mixed micelles. In conclusion, the present in vitro data indicate that the in vivo mechanism of organic-anion-induced inhibition of biliary lipid secretion is not mediated by inhibition of micellization.

Partial characterization of regulation of biliary lecithin hydrophobicity: association with organic anion-induced solute cholestasis in rats

We examined the effects of the depletion of bile salts and of the intravenous infusion of sodium taurocholate (STC) with or without bromosulphophthalein (BSP) in rats on the biliary secretion of lipids to clarify the regulatory mechanism(s). Each rat was equipped with a bile-duct cannula to collect bile. After the endogenous bile salt pool was depleted, STC was infused at a constant rate (160 nmol/min per 100 g body wt.) with or without BSP (50, 100, or 150 nmol/min per 100 g body wt.). BSP reduced the biliary secretion of cholesterol and phospholipids dose-dependently without affecting the secretion of bile salts (uncoupling phenomenon). Compared with the physiological and STC-infused condition, the biliary cholesterol/phospholipid ratio and saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratio increased under the bile salts depletion and uncoupling phenomenon. Data indicate that the hydrophobicity of biliary lecithin increases with a decrease in the bile salt micelle capacity to induce biliary lipid secretion, resulting in a higher packing density of biliary vesicle. The cholesterol-holding capacity of the biliary vesicle is therefore enhanced during the depletion of bile salts and the uncoupling phenomenon.

Effect of diosgenin on biliary cholesterol transport in the rat

Biliary cholesterol output in rats was stimulated over 3-fold by feeding diosgenin for 5 days, whereas biliary outputs of phospholipid and bile salts were not changed by diosgenin feeding. Isolating and perfusing the liver without bile salts resulted in a rapid and substantial decrease in biliary bile salt output; bile salt depletion abolished the diosgenin-induced increment in biliary cholesterol output, showing that the diosgenin-elevated biliary cholesterol output was bile-salt-dependent. Diosgenin treatment also produced a significant decrease in biliary alkaline phosphodiesterase I. Fresh bile obtained from control and diosgenin-fed rats was subjected to gel-permeation chromatography in order to separate different-sized biliary cholesterol carriers. Two major peaks of cholesterol were eluted, with cholesterol also being eluted between the peaks. The cholesterol peak eluted at the lower molecular mass (20-30 kDa) was observed in all bile samples. The higher-molecular-mass peak, which was eluted at the void volume, was not observed in all biles; control biles contained very little high-molecular-mass form of cholesterol, whereas biles from the diosgenin group contained up to 47% of cholesterol in the high-molecular-mass fraction. Diosgenin treatment produced a range of elevated biliary cholesterol values which positively correlated with the proportion of cholesterol contained in the high-molecular-mass fraction (r = 0.98). The results show that diosgenin induced a marked bile-salt-dependent increase in biliary cholesterol output and a shift in biliary cholesterol transport to higher-molecular-mass structures.

Partial characterization of mechanism(s) by which sulphobromophthalein reduces biliary lipid secretion

This study was performed to explore the mechanisms by which sulphobromophthalein (BSP) reduces the secretion of biliary lipid using Sprague-Dawley rats (SDR) and mutant rats with congenital conjugated hyperbilirubinaemia bred from SDR (EHBR). We infused the bile-salt-pool-depleted rats with sodium taurocholate at a constant rate of 160 nmol/min per 100 g body wt. with BSP (12.5, 25 and 50 nmol/min per 100 g body wt.) or BSP-GSH (12.5, 25 and 50 nmol/min per 100 g body wt.). The biliary secretion of BSP and BSP-GSH was markedly impaired in EHBR as compared with that in SDR. BSP reduced the biliary secretion of cholesterol and phospholipids in a dose-dependent manner without affecting the secretion of bile salts and composition of fatty acids in phospholipids in SDR, but had no effect on lipid secretion in EHBR. In contrast, BSP-GSH had no such effect on biliary lipids, either in the SDR or EHBR. In addition, the amount of BSP in the liver of EHBR was in the same range as that of SDR. Therefore it is unlikely that an intracellular mechanism is involved in the phenomenon of uncoupling by BSP. We conclude that the uncoupling of biliary lipids from bile-salt secretion by BSP occurs at the level of the bile canaliculus following the secretion of unconjugated BSP.

Papaverine inhibits transcytotic vesicle transport and lipid excretion into bile in isolated perfused rat liver

Papaverine is a nonspecific smooth muscle relaxant and a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. Its effects on biliary excretion of lipids and horseradish peroxidase were investigated in a single-pass isolated perfused rat liver model. A constant infusion of papaverine (1.6 mumol/min; 40 mumol/L) significantly increased bile flow (microliters per minute per gram of liver) before (2.03 +/- 0.09 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.06) and after sodium taurocholate infusion (2.77 +/- 0.10 vs. 1.88 +/- 0.11). However, papaverine significantly and reversibly reduced biliary excretion of phospholipids and cholesterol (nanomoles per minute per gram of liver) after a 1.0 mumol/min sodium taurocholate infusion, from 7.45 +/- 0.83 and 1.42 +/- 0.15 to 1.75 +/- 0.18 and 0.39 +/- 0.06, respectively (p less than 0.01), whereas secretion of bile acids was unaffected. When a 1-min pulse of horseradish peroxidase (25 mg) was infused in isolated perfused rat liver after a continuous infusion of N6,O-2'-dibutyryladenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (0.25 mumol/min; 6.25 mumol/L), horseradish peroxidase appeared in bile in an early (4 to 6 min) and late (20 to 25 min) peak. Papaverine significantly reduced the late peak, from 1.211 +/- 0.264 to 0.498 +/- 0.107 (p less than 0.01). Papaverine had no significant effects on either cyclic AMP or cyclic GMP in the liver and bile, although it has been reported that papaverine is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. These findings indicate that papaverine inhibits biliary excretion of lipids but not bile acids, and they suggest that papaverine has an inhibitory effect on transcytotic vesicle transport independent of an increase of cyclic nucleotides in hepatocytes.

Inhibition of biliary lipid and protein secretion by cyclosporine A in the rat

We investigated the effect of cyclosporine A (CyA) administered as a single i.v. dose of 20 and 40 mg/kg body wt, on biliary secretion of cholesterol, phospholipid, bile acid, and lysosomal marker and canalicular plasma membrane marker enzymes in anaesthetized Wistar rats. CyA reduced the concentration and biliary secretion of cholesterol, phospholipid and bile acid to a considerable extent; the inhibitory effect of CyA on the biliary secretion of phospholipid and bile acid was greater than that on cholesterol. The biliary outputs of acid phosphatase (AcP) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) were also diminished by the drug, all these effects being dose-dependent. Maximum decreases in bile acid secretion were observed 10 min after administration, whereas those of cholesterol and phospholipid were delayed. Bile acid concentrations and secretion returned to pretest values at 30-50 min after CyA injection whereas those of cholesterol and phospholipid remained significantly reduced at this time point. The greater inhibitory effect of CyA on the biliary outputs of phospholipid and bile acid relative to cholesterol secretion together with the asynchronous fall and recovery of bile acid, cholesterol and phospholipid concentrations and secretion alter the cholesterol/bile acid, phospholipid/bile acid and cholesterol/phospholipid molar ratios as well as the lithogenic index, thus suggesting that CyA would uncouple biliary lipid secretion from bile acid secretion. Since under physiological conditions biliary lipid and gamma-GT secretion is related to and dependent upon bile acid secretion, we propose that the CyA-induced inhibition on lipid and gamma-GT secretion is, at least partly, secondary to the fall in bile acid output caused by the drug. However, since CyA inhibits secretory processes independent of the hepatobiliary flux of bile acid, such as the exocytic discharge of AcP, and because it also uncouples biliary lipid from bile acid secretion, other mechanisms and factors involved in lipid and protein secretion (such as intracellular transport, canalicular membrane fluidity and/or intracanalicular events) might also be altered by this drug.

Effects of organic anions on biliary lipid secretion in rats. Importance of association with biliary lipid structures

This study was performed to determine the effects of various organic anions on biliary lipid secretion in rats. We infused bile-salt-pool-depleted rats with sodium taurocholate at a constant rate, with or without various organic anions: Indocyanine Green (ICG), bromosulphophthalein (BSP), BSP-glutathione and Phenol Red (PR). BSP decreased biliary secretion of cholesterol and phospholipids in a dose-dependent manner without affecting bile salt secretion (uncoupling), and this change was fully reversible. In contrast, ICG, BSP-glutathione and PR did not cause such an uncoupling of biliary lipids. In addition, the distribution pattern of each organic anion to various lipid particles was determined by gel-permeation chromatography. BSP was predominantly associated with bile salt micelles, whereas vesicular association was dominant for ICG, and both BSP-glutathione and PR formed only self-aggregations. From these data, we concluded that the uncoupling of biliary lipids from bile salt secretion by BSP resulted from the interaction between BSP and bile salt micelles in the bile canaliculus, and that this interaction inhibited the capacity of bile salts to induce the secretion of phospholipids and cholesterol.

Taurolithocholate-induced inhibition of biliary lipid and protein excretion in the rat

Taurolithocholate (TLC), a natural bile salt, induces selective impairment on canalicular membrane of the hepatocyte, which seems to be a major determinant of its cholestatic effect in experimental animals. In order to extend existing studies about the effects of TLC on bile secretion, we examined in TLC-treated rats the biliary excretion of compounds that are transported to canalicular membrane via vesicles, such as lipids and proteins. The single intravenous injection of TLC (3 mumol/100 g body wt.) inhibited transiently the biliary bile salt excretion, while the biliary excretion of lipids (i.e., cholesterol and phospholipids) and proteins remained inhibited even though the biliary excretion and composition of bile salts were normalized. Under such a condition, TLC also inhibited the transcellular vesicular pathway to the exogenous protein horseradish peroxidase entry into bile, without altering the paracellular biliary access of the protein. The hepatic uptake of horseradish peroxidase was unaffected by TLC-treatment. The results indicate that TLC can inhibit the biliary excretion of compounds that reach the canaliculus via a vesicular pathway, such as lipids and proteins, by a mechanism not related to a defective bile salt excretion. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Inhibition of biliary cholesterol and phospholipid secretion by cefmetazole. The role of vesicular transport and of canalicular events

A number of organic anions selectively inhibit the biliary secretion of cholesterol and phospholipids without affecting bile acid secretion. We studied the effect of cefmetazole, a third-generation cephalosporin, on biliary lipid secretion in the rat. Injection of cefmetazole at a dose of 200 mumol/kg body wt. induced a choleretic effect and a significant decrease in the biliary output of cholesterol and phospholipid, without changes in bile acid secretion. The decrease was more marked for cholesterol than for phospholipid secretion, with a significant decrease in their molar ratio in bile. The effects were apparently unrelated to an inhibition of intracellular vesicular transport because, after injection of horseradish peroxidase, both the time course and total amount secreted of the protein did not significantly differ between control animals and those receiving cefmetazole. The secretory rate of the lysosomal marker acid phosphatase was not affected by cefmetazole administration. Biliary outputs of the plasma-membrane enzymes alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltransferase were significantly decreased by the antibiotic. These results point to an effect of cefmetazole at the level of the canalicular membrane.