Abstract
The observation by Roberts of an increase in serum phosphatase activity in patients with jaundice has been confirmed by a number of investigators. Similar results have been obtained in dogs with experimentally produced obstructive and nonobstructive hepatic jaundice 1 , 2 , 3 and elevated values have been reported in portal cirrhosis. 4 , 5 In view of the uniformity of the previously reported data, particularly in obstructive jaundice, and the importance of this uniformity in connection with any attempt to explain the pathogenesis of this phenomenon and its significance, the results of our observations upon cats with total bile stasis are of interest.
Determinations of serum bilirubin concentration and serum phosphatase activity were made in 8 normal cats and 30 adult cats at various stages of total bile stasis produced by ligation of the common bile duct. No case is included in which, at autopsy, there was evidence of the presence of any complication or any indication that stasis was not complete. The animals were maintained upon a diet of fresh raw scrap meat and milk. Serum bilirubin was determined by the method of van den Bergh and serum phosphatase by the method of Bodansky. 6
The findings are presented in Table I. The control values ranged from 0.95 to 3.84 units of phosphatase. Of 45 determinations made upon 30 cats with total stasis, 41 during stasis of 2–21 days' duration were within the limits of the control values. Higher values were obtained in only 4 instances, as follows: 11.03, 5.92, 5.8 and 4.6 units, with stasis of 16, 29, 21 and 8 days' duration, respectively. There was no consistent relationship between serum phosphatase activity and either the duration of stasis or the degree of bilirubinemia.
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