Bile Acid-Induced Increase in Bile Acid-Independent Flow and Plasma Membrane NaK-ATPase Activity in Rat Liver

Abstract

Previous studies showed that in rats with obstruction of the bile ducts draining the median and left hepatic lobes, and in rats with normal bile ducts in which the bile acid pool size and secretion were augmented by 48-h intraduodenal infusion of taurocholate, bile acid flux through secreting hepatocytes was increased. Under these conditions, taurocholate transport maximum exhibited a time-dependent adaptation to increased secretory load. Unexpectedly, bile acid-independent canalicular flow in these experimental models also was found to be increased when measured at 48 h. Relative to controls, bile acid-independent flow per gram of nonobstructed liver was increased approximately threefold in selectively obstructed rats and 43% in bile acid-loaded rats with normal ducts. In rats infused with bile acids at similar rates for only 16 h, no increase was observed. Studies with [¹⁴C]erythritol suggested that the increased bile flow under these conditions was of canalicular origin. NaK-ATPase activity in canaliculi-enriched liver plasma membrane preparations from the nonobstructed lobes of selectively obstructed rats and from 48-h bile acid-loaded rats was increased by 47% and 52%, respectively, relative to controls, but was not increased in membranes from 16-h bile acid-loaded rats. Canalicular membrane 5′-nucleotidase and Mg ATPase also were increased. These studies show that augmented bile acid flux through secreting liver causes an adaptive increase in bile acid-“independent” flow and in the activity of canalicular membrane enzymes. The mechanism by which bile acids modulate this and previously reported aspects of bile secretion remains to be elucidated.