Studies on Calcium and Phosphorus in Bile-fistula Dogs

Abstract

The work of Pavlov, 1 Looser, 2 Wisner and Whipple, 3 Düttman, 4 Dietrich, 5 Gilbert, 6 and Buchbinder and Kern 7 has shown that absence of bile from the intestinal tract of animals leads to osteoporosis. The gross manifestations of the condition are softening of the bones and spontaneous fracture. The condition is not brought about when only small amounts of bile are permitted to enter the intestinal tract. Results in accord with the above were obtained by Seidel 8 in 2 human cases. Two explanations to account for this phenomenon have been advanced: (a) Klinke 9 postulates that in the absence of bile there is lack of calcium absorption, (b) Seifert 10 suggests that in the absence of bile, vitamin D is not absorbed. Support for the latter hypothesis is furnished by Tammann 11 who showed that parenteral administration of vitamin D alleviated the condition.

There has been no systematic work dealing with calcium and phosphorus balances in bile fistula dogs. King, Bigelow and Pearce 12 reported negative calcium balances over a period of a week and Emerson 13 reported decreased fecal calcium output over several 3-day periods. However, from the standpoint of a calcium balance Emerson's results have little significance.

In the present work, calcium and phosphorus balances were carried out on 2 female dogs in which bile was excluded from the intestinal tract by cholecystonephrostomy.