Notes on studies in the physiology of the gall bladder

Abstract

In undertaking the following animal experiments on the nature of the expulsive action of the gall bladder, we had particularly in mind the investigation of the modus operandi of magnesium sulphate when applied to the papilla of Vater as suggested by Meltzer.

Laparotomy and duodenotomy was performed on several dogs anesthetized with chloretone. Observation of the gall bladder immediately after laparotomy showed a distended bladder in all except one animal. The flaccid bladder was seen in a fasting dog.

A solution of methylene blue was injected into the gall bladder to differentiate its content from the bile flowing from the liver. The duodenal mucosa in the region of and including the papilla of Vater was irrigated with magnesium sulphate solution; although an increased flow of bile was observed, no expulsion of the gall bladder content was noted. This observation was carried on for several hours in a series of eight dogs. The gall bladder retained its bile independent of whether the dog was in the fasting or the actively digesting state.

Stimulation of liver bile flow as obtained with magnesium sulphate was also observed after the application of sodium sulphate, sodium phosphate, peptone, N/10 hydrochloric acid, bile and sodium glycocholate. No stimulation was seen after the application of water, sodium chloride or sodium hydroxide.

Attempts to produce contraction by nervous stimulation were unsuccessful. Strong direct faradic stimulation of the organ failed to produce contraction or expulsion of contents.

A series of experiments, in which phenoltetrachlorphthalein was injected intravenously and subsequently recovered when excreted in the bile, showed the appearance of this substance in the duodenum in from ten to fifteen minutes after injection. A flow into the gall bladder of liver bile was demonstrated by the recovery of the phenoltetrachlorphthalein from the bladder bile when the cystic duct was patent.